GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— After posting two road wins last week, the Colorado Mesa University men's lacrosse team has returned home and will face Adams State University in the first of a 3-game homestand at the Community Hospital Unity Field on Saturday at 1 p.m.
 
The game is the Mavs' Senior Day contest.
 
The Mavericks, who are ranked 16^th nationally, have won four straight games and are 8-2 overall and sitting atop the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings with a 5-0 mark at the half-way point of the conference schedule.
 
The visiting Grizzlies are 2-6 overall and 2-3 in the RMAC.  They sit in fourth place in the conference standings.
 
Following the game, the Mavericks will recognize 18 seniors.
 
Tickets for the game can be purchased here.
 
It can also be seen live with a subscription to the RMAC Network (more information below).
 
Live statistics can be found here or at the link above.
 
Last Times Out
 
The Mavs were on the road last week and claimed a pair of key RMAC wins to seize control of the RMAC standings.
 
The Mavericks pulled out a 13-12 overtime win over their biggest rival in Westminster University last Thursday (Mar. 26) in Salt Lake City.
 
They then scored all 11 second half goals in a 17-6 win over RMAC newcomer Northwest Nazarene last Saturday.
 
Against Westminster, Dillon Pless scored the game-winning overtime goal with 31 seconds remaining in the first 4-minute overtime after the Griffins scored three times in the final 90 seconds of regulation to level the score at 12.
 
In Saturday's win over Northwest Nazarene, the Mavericks tied the game at six on a Connor Jensen buzzer-beating goal at the end of the first half and then proceeded to dominate the second half, scoring six times in the third quarter and five more in the fourth to claim the 11-goal win.
 
Jensen finished that game with four goals and six offensive points, matching his career-highs.
 
Carson Points and Dillon Pless also added hat tricks.
 
Senior Day
 
The Mavericks will recognize 18 of their players in a post-game ceremony following Saturday's game.
 
The list of 18 includes ten seniors in Shawn Ferguson, Wolfi Gottschalk, Deuce Kirschke, Nik Moore, Luke Parrish, Dillon Pless, Kanyan Rhodes, Caleb Schreiber, Cole Skillington.  The list also includes redshirt juniors Eli Bibler, Manny Flores, Connor Jensen, Dax Lambright, Erich Petersen, Ryan Pless, Brady Porter, Reed Roughton and Grant Schachet, who could decide to come back for another season in 2027.

The senior class has posted a combined 50-12 record in their time at CMU winning each of the three previous RMAC Regular Season and Tournament titles while making the program's second NCAA Tournament appearance in 2025.
 
Goalkeeping Duo
 
Maverick freshman Boaz Brown made a season-high 18 saves in last Thursday's win over Westminster in what was his fourth straight start in place of returning honorable mention all-American Shaden Shields.
 
Shields then returned to play on Saturday, going the distance in the win over Northwest Nazarene while making 11 saves.
 
Shields has played and started four games this season, posting a .571 save percentage and a 9.08 goals against average.  Brown has started the other five games posting an even better .582 save percentage and only slightly higher 9.44 goals against average.
 
Moore goals please
 
Maverick senior Nik Moore picked a great time to record his first career hat trick, doing so in last weeks' win over rival Westminster.  The midfielder out of Centennial, Colorado now has eight goals this season, doubling his career total from his previous three seasons as a reserve.
 
One streak continues, another ends
 
Redshirt junior Connor Jensen has missed two games this season due to injury but has scored in all eighth that he has played.  He has scored in 11 straight appearances dating back to last season and has scored at least one goal in 23 of his last 24 games.
 
Jack Cooper, who had led the Mavericks in scoring, saw his eight game scoring streak snapped in last week's win over Northwest Nazarene.  Cooper now has 17 goals this season, one behind Dillon Pless.
 
Pless has scored eighth goals in the last three games and has 18 overall.  He has scored at least once in nine of the Mavs' ten games to date.
 
Top Rated D
 
The Mavericks have allowed just 32 goals in their last four games, an average of 8.00 per game.  That has allowed the Mavs to lower their RMAC-leading goals allowed per game average to 8.70.
 
In the Polls
 
Despite their wins last week, the Mavericks slipped a spot to 16^th in this week's edition (Week No. 8) of the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association's Division II Poll, released on Monday.
 
They have been ranked in all nine editions of the top 20 poll, including the preseason, and have been just inside the top ten on three occasions.
 
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 50-12 (.806) record, including a 24-2 mark (.923) in RMAC games and a nearly flawless 20-1 (.952) record at home.  The Mavs have won both the RMAC Regular Season and Tournament titles in all three 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 each of the last five RMAC regular season titles and four straight tournament crowns.  The Mavs have gone a combined 90-26 (.776) in his now eight seasons with Moyer on the sidelines.
 
Moyer is a 9-0 as the Mavs' head coach against Adams State and the Grizzlies head coach Jerome Austin.
 
Home Sweet Home
 
The Mavericks have won 24 of their last 25 home games since the start of the 2022 season and had won 19 straight before Westminster snapped the streak with a 10-9 overtime win on Apr. 19 of last season in the regular season finale.
 
However, the Mavs then bounced back to win the Rocky Mountain Division Tournament with two home wins in the following week to end last year's season with a 5-1 home mark.
 
They went 7-0 at home in 2024, winning all five of their regular season games plus winning the RMAC Tournament Championship with a 13-12 overtime win over CUI.
 
The Mavs also won the 2023 RMAC Tournament title at home after going 3-0 at home during the regular season.  The Mavs were 5-0 at home that year and went 4-0 at home in 2022 but did not host that year's RMAC Tournament after being edged on tie-breaking procedures.
 
Throughout their history, the Mavs have a 74-9 all-time record at home, good for a .892 winning percentage.
 
They are 20-1 (.952) at home with head coach Troy Moyer at the helm of the program and have a 3-0 home record thus far in 2026.
 
Know Your Foe
 
The Adams State Grizzlies will enter Saturday's game with a 2-6 record and are 2-3 in RMAC play.  They are in fourth place in the RMAC standings and have the inside track to qualify for the RMAC Tournament.
 
They lost 25-4 at Westminster in their last outing but had won back-to-back games over Dominican and Northwest Nazarene on Mar. 20 and 22, respectively.  Those 16-11 and 11-9 wins were the first back-to-back victories for the Grizzlies since 2019.
 
Jacob Parsons leads the Grizzlies with 11 goals this season.  He also has four assists and 15 points.
 
Tre Williams and Cohen Taylor have both scored ten goals while Malik Maxwell has nine goals, a team leading-nine assists and 18 points.
 
Logan Brewer has 22 ground balls and ten caused turnovers to pace the defense.
 
Hunter Bennett, ASU's secondary faceoff man has a team-leading 28 ground balls.
 
Byrant Alarid has taken 161 faceoffs, winning just 23.6 percent (38) of them while Bennett has a 29.8 percent (14-47) success rate.
 
Ryan Berger is the team's primary goalkeeper.  He has started seven games and has 92 saves and a .455 save percentage.  He has an 18.33 goals against average.
 
One-Sided Rivalry
 
The Mavericks and Grizzlies both started their programs in 2011 but have had completely different trajectories in the 15 years since.
 
The Mavs have won all 35 games between the teams, 20 of which have been played in Grand Junction.
 
The Mavs' latest win in the rivalry was earlier this season on Feb. 14, a game the Mavs won 19-4 in Alamosa.
 
CMU has put up 20 or more goals in seven of the last nine games.
 
The Mavs swept last year's series by 22-5 and 21-6 scorelines in games played just six days apart on Apr. 3 and Apr. 9.
 
RMAC Network News
 
All of the Mavs' home and RMAC road games this season including Thursday's game, will be streamed on the RMAC Network, which has moved to a pay-per-view model for the 2025-26 season.  This season, all RMAC athletic events broadcast by its 15 full-member institutions and associate members will only be available for purchase via a single-game pass or a monthly or annual subscription. Revenue generated by the network will be redistributed to the league's membership to enhance their programs.
 
RMAC fans can purchase monthly and annual subscriptions that will provide them with access to all regular-season, championship, and archived broadcasts on the RMAC Network. A monthly subscription costs $25, and an annual subscription costs $130. Single-game passes are available for $10, which grants access to a single game for 24 hours.
 
Additionally, a discounted annual subscription price will be available to students, faculty, and staff of each member institution throughout the year. Purchasing options and pricing for individual RMAC Championships will be announced closer to each event.
 
Colorado Mesa turns 100
 
The CMU Century Celebration stands as the cornerstone of Colorado Mesa University's year-long centennial celebration. This ambitious initiative unites our community in honoring a rich heritage while boldly envisioning the next hundred years of academic excellence.

Led by the Steering Committee and six specialized sub-committees, we're orchestrating a transformative experience that will resonate through generations. Each committee brings unique expertise to create an unforgettable commemoration of our past, present and future.
 
To learn more about Colorado Mesa's 100-year celebration, visit cmucentury.com.
 
Up Next
 
The Mavericks will remain at home for their last two home games of the regular season.  They will take on Westminster University on Thursday (Apr. 9) at 7 p.m. in a game that will go a long way in determining the RMAC title.  The Mavs will then take on Northwest Nazarene on Saturday (Apr. 11) at 7 p.m.