SALT LAKE CITY, Utah— The Colorado Mesa University men's lacrosse team saw its season come to an end in gut-wrenching fashion on Friday night as the Mavericks saw an early third quarter 9-3 lead evaporate as the Concordia University Irvine Golden Eagles scored two goals in the final minute of regulation and then the overtime game-winner  to claim a 13-12 decision in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals here at Westminster University's Dumke Field.
 
The Mavericks fell to 10-5 overall while the Golden Eagles recorded a second straight comeback win in seven days over the Mavs to improve to 10-6 while qualifying for their third straight tournament championship game, where they will face the host and top-seeded Griffins on Sunday afternoon.
 
CMU had been in all nine of the previous tournament championship games dating back to 2016, winning seven of them.
 
The Mavs held an 11-7 lead through three quarters of Friday night's game after leading 7-4 through three quarters of last Saturday's regular season finale but again saw the Golden Eagles storm back.
 
This time, the Californians scored five of the six fourth-quarter goals, pulling to within 12-11 on Matt Carressi's sixth goal of the night with 40 seconds remaining.  The Mavs then won the ensuing faceoff but were called for a 2-minute un-releasable illegal body check penalty in a loose ball scrum, giving the Golden Eagles a man-up chance at the end of regulation.
 
The Golden Eagles' Jeremy Barnes then tied the game with a long distance strike with just two seconds remaining in regulation.
 
Still a man down to begin the overtime, the Mavs withstood the first Golden Eagle attack in overtime as freshman Boaz Brown made one of his 16 saves. 
 
The Mavs were then able to patiently kill off the rest of the penalty but were unable to get a shot off in their on their possession as CUI took advantage of a shot clock violation before clearing the ball and scoring the game winner just over a minute later with 1:07 left in the overtime period.
 
The Mavs had jumped out to a 7-2 lead after the first quarter and held an 8-3 lead at the half before extending it to 9-3 on a Dillon Pless goal just 1:10 into the third quarter.
 
The Golden Eagles sliced the deficit to 9-6 before the Mavs established an 11-7 lead going into the fourth quarter.  The two teams then exchanged goals in the first 2:10 of the fourth before the Mavs failed to score in the final 12 ½ minutes of regulation as CUI came from 12-8 down.
 
Connor Jensen led the Maverick attack with three goals and three assists and scored in all 13 of his appearances this season.  He also finishes the season with a team-high 45 offensive points and with 18 assists.
 
Dillon Pless, recognized as the RMAC's Midfielder of the Year prior to the game, also added a hat trick and finishes the season with 26 goals. 
 
Fellow All-RMAC selections Carson Points and Erich Petersen also scored two goals apiece while Nik Moore and freshman Ari Villano both scored one.  Villano finishes the season with 27 goals, a program freshman record and the most on the 2026 team.
 
The Mavs had a 38-28 advantage in total shots through three quarters but were outshot 18-5 in the fourth and 48-43 overall.
 
CUI also ended with a 29-23 edge in shots on goal.
 
The Golden Eagles were able to win 15 of 27 faceoffs and had a 33-22 advantage in ground balls.
 
Senior Kanyan Rhodes played for the first time in more than four weeks due to injury and won six faceoffs while scooping up five ground balls.