GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University men's lacrosse team will look to avenge a defeat in their last regular season game and qualify for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament Championship game for the tenth straight time when they  take on Concordia University Irvine Golden Eagles in Friday's second semifinal.
 
The Mavericks (10-4, 8-2 RMAC) are the tournament's second seed and will take on the third-seeded Golden Eagles (9-5, 7-3 RMAC) at 7 p.m. at Westminster University's Dumke Field in Salt Lake City, Utah.
 
The winner will advance to Sunday afternoon's (1 p.m.) championship game to play the winner of the No. 1 Westminster/No. 4 Northwest Nazarene semifinal, which will precede the Mavs' game at 4 p.m.
 
Tickets and tournament passes can be purchased through the RMAC Championship webpage.
 
All of the games will also be streamed on the RMAC Network, and accessible with a pay-per-view purchase or though previously purchased monthly, seasonal or annual subscriptions.
 
Live statistics for the games will also be accessible at the link above.
 
Last Times Out
 
The Mavericks dropped a 10-7 decision to CUI in last Saturday's regular season finale, which was also played at Dumke Field.
 
The Mavs held a 7-4 lead after three quarters but watched the Golden Eagles score all six fourth-quarter goals to claim the win.
 
Ari Villano scored two goals to lead the Mavs while Eli Bibler and Connor Jensen both had two points with a goal and an assist.
 
Villano, Shawn Ferguson and Reed Roughton all had three ground balls.
 
Boaz Brown made seven saves.
 
Tournament History
 
The Mavericks have won seven of the previous nine RMAC Tournament titles, including each of the last four from 2022-25.  The Mavs also won the 2016, 2017 and 2018 crowns.
 
Westminster won the 2019 and 2021 titles.  There was no tournament in 2020 due to COVID.
 
The Mavs have a 16-2 all-time record in the RMAC Tournament and have been in the title game in each of the last nine previous editions.
 
Scoring Streak Extended
 
Maverick redshirt junior attack Connor Jensen scored a goal in the regular season finale against CUI and now has scored in all 12 games that he has played in this season.  Dating back to last season, Jensen has now scored in 15 consecutive appearances.
 
He also added an assist and continues to lead the Mavericks with 37 total points this season.  He has 20 points in his last five games alone.
 
Freshman Record
 
Maverick freshman attack Ari Villano scored two goals in the last game and now has eight multiple-goal games this season, the most of any Maverick.
 
The Bend, Oregon native also leads the Mavericks with 26 goals overall, which is the highest ever goal scoring total for any Maverick freshman in program history.
 
Villano also leads the RMAC and ranks ninth with his .500 shot percentage, scoring on half of his 52 total shots.
 
Leading defense
 
The Mavericks continue to have the RMAC's top defense, which has allowed just 8.43 goals per game.  That average is the 13^th best in the country.
 
Coaching Corner
 
Troy Moyer, the reigning Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, is in his fourth season in charge of the Maverick program.
 
He was promoted to the head coach role in the fall of 2022 after a brief stint as the interim head coach.   Moyer took over for former CMU Head Coach Vince Smith, who left the position for other opportunities outside of coaching.  Moyer had originally been hired as an assistant on Smith's staff for the 2018-19 season.
 
In his four seasons as a head coach, including the 2026 start, Moyer has guided the Mavericks to a combined 52-14 (.788) record, including a 28-4 mark (.875) in RMAC games and a stellar 22-2 (.917) record at home.  The Mavs have won both the RMAC Regular Season and Tournament titles in all three previous seasons with Moyer in charge and secured a NCAA Tournament bid last season.
 
In his overall time with the Mavericks, Moyer has helped the program win five straight RMAC regular season titles and four straight tournament crowns.  The Mavs have gone a combined 92-28 (.767) in his now eight seasons with Moyer on the sidelines.
 
Moyer is a 7-1 against CUI.
 
Know Your Foe
 
Concordia University Irvine enters Saturday's game with a 9-6 overall record and finished third in the RMAC standings with a 7-3 conference record.  They have won four straight games and five of their last six.
 
Jack Lepore scored four goals in Saturday's win over CMU while Jeremy Barnes scored twice.

Barnes leads the Golden Eagles with 40 goals this season, the second highest total in the RMAC.
 
Leopore has 27 goals and is third on the squad.
 
Matt Carresi leads the RMAC with 31 assists and 61 points.  He has recorded 22 points in the 4-game winning streak.  Barnes is also second in the RMAC with 58 points and has registered 18 assists, trailing only Carresi in the RMAC statistics.
 
Defensively, Jake Cloutier has 13 caused turnovers while Drew Curren and Jackson Crocker have 12 each.    Cloutier also has 29 ground balls while Alex Torgesen has scooped up 32.
 
The Golden Eagles have been stellar at the faceoff dot, winning nearly two thirds (284-432) of their draws to rank sixth in the country.  Dawson Loudermilk has won 68.9 percent (168-244) of his attempts and has 109 ground balls.  Cade Poe, a First Team All-RMAC selection last year, has also provided stellar secondary support, winning 81 of his 128 faceoffs (.633) while accumulating 54 ground balls.
 
Zane Coda and Brody Woods have split time in goal, putting up similar numbers.  Coda has made nine starts and has a .484 save percentage and 10.95 goals against average.  Woods has a slightly better 10.40 goals against average in six starts.  He has posted a .412 save percentage and made 13 saves in a complete game effort against the Mavs last week.
 
Series History
 
The Mavericks are 7-1 all-time against the Golden Eagles, including a 19-8 home win this year on Mar. 22.
 
CUI's first and only win in the series was this past Saturday by a 10-7 score.
 
This Friday's game will mark the third straight years that the Mavs and Golden Eagles have played in the RMAC Tournament.  The Mavs have won the last two RMAC Tournament title games over CUI, claiming a 13-12 overtime win in 2024 before winning 15-6 in last year's title game. 
 
The Mavs are 1-1 against the Golden Eagles on a neutral field, winning their 2025 season-opener by a 13-8 score on Feb. 15, 2025 in San Rafael, California, prior to last Saturday' game.
 
Five of the previous seven meetings have been at home.  CMU has played in Irvine, just once.
 
RMAC Network News
 
All of the RMAC Tournament games will be streamed on the RMAC Network and are included in annual and monthly subscription plans.  Tournament games are also available on a pay-per-day basis for $15 which will allow fans to watch a game on a particular day.
 
For more information or to make a purchase, go to https://rmacnetwork.com/purchase/.
 
Up Next
 
If the Mavericks win Friday's semifinal game, they would advance to the RMAC Tournament Championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m. and would play the winner of the first semifinal between host Westminster and Northwest Nazarene.
 
The tournament champion will earn the RMAC's automatic qualification spot in to the NCAA Tournament.
 
A loss in Friday's game would likely end the Mavs' season.