GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Colorado Mesa men's lacrosse knows exactly what it needs to do to clinch hosting rights for the RMAC tournament.
Despite a disappointing loss last Saturday to No. 17 Westminster, the Mavericks are tied for first in the RMAC standings with the Griffins and will clinch a share of the RMAC regular season title with wins in their final two conference games against Adams State and CSU Pueblo. Thanks to goal differential tiebreakers, the Mavericks can also ensure the No. 1 seed and hosting rights for the conference tournament if they beat both ASU and CSUP by six goals or more.
The Mavericks and Grizzlies will face one another on Friday at 3 p.m. in Alamosa before CMU travels to Pueblo to face the ThunderWolves on Sunday at noon.
Looking Back
Colorado Mesa suffered its first RMAC loss of the season at Westminster last Saturday but minimized the damage with a late goal.
RECAP: Westminster
Deuce Kirschke scored with less than 20 seconds left in the game to cut the Mavs deficit from two goals to one in the eventual 13-12 loss, the same score as Colorado Mesa's win over the Griffins at home on March 24. JJ Brummett had a hat trick in the loss for CMU while Dillon Pless and Micah Payton scored twice each.
Magic Number Six
For both of Colorado Mesa's games this weekend, keep an eye on the margin of victory. As long as Colorado Mesa wins by six goals or more, the Mavs will be a-okay.
Colorado Mesa and Westminster are tied with a 5-1 record in the RMAC, well ahead of CUI (4-4), Adams State and CSU Pueblo (both 1-5). If the Mavs and Griffins remain tied after the conclusion of the RMAC season this weekend, they will officially be co-regular season champions.
Only one team can host the RMAC tournament, however, and that will be settled by tiebreakers unless either CMU or Westminster drop a game to Adams or Pueblo. The Mavs and Griffins have played twice this season, with CMU winning 13-12 in Grand Junction and Westminster winning by an identical 13-12 score in Salt Lake City.
Those results mean that the Mavs and Griffins are tied in the first tiebreaker, head to head, as well as the second tiebreaker, head to head goal differential (both teams have scored 25 and allowed 25 against one another). The third tiebreaker is goal differential in conference play, with a six-goal cap per contest, meaning that teams can't count more than six goals to their margin of victory for each game for the purposes of this tiebreaker.
Colorado Mesa has won all four of its conference games against CUI, Adams State and CSU Pueblo by over six goals. In the first game of the year, however, Westminster beat CUI 20-15, a margin of only five goals, giving CMU a one-goal lead in this tiebreaker as things stand right now. As long as the Mavericks win both games this weekend and meet the six-goal threshold in both wins, CMU will be the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.
Owning the X
Colorado Mesa's five face-off men to see action this year have all been dominant, recording a face-off win percentage of 57 percent or better.
Former All-American Dylan Checketts has been a mainstay at the "X" for CMU, winning 94 of 165 faceoffs for a .570 percentage. Mike Edwards is winning just over 60 percent of his faceoffs (47-78, .603) while sophom*ore Kanyan Rhodes is winning at a 58 percent clip (34-59).
A pair of true freshmen have also been successful in the face-off circle when given opportunities. Cam Casados, out of Denver, Colorado, has won 19 of 24 faceoffs to post a 79.2 percent winning percentage in five games. Carlsbad, California native Tyler Kopco has appeared in three games and won 5 of 8 from the circle, including a 5-for-7 combined performance against Adams State and CSU Pueblo, this week's two opponents.
Among players with enough attempts to qualify, Checketts ranks second in the conference and 31st in the NCAA with his .570 winning percentage. As a team, the Mavericks rank second in the RMAC and 17th in the nation with their .593 overall percentage, trailing only CUI among RMAC schools.
Colorado Mesa has won the faceoff battle in all but three games this season (at Lewis, vs. Westminster and vs. CUI). In four games, they have won at least 10 more faceoffs than their opponents.
Top Program
Colorado Mesa has been in the national rankings of Division II all season long, and the statistics back that notion up.
The Mavericks rank in the top 20 nationally in several categories, including scoring offense (14th, 15.42 goals per game), scoring defense (12th, 9.08), points per game (12th, 25.0), ground balls per game (15th, 38.08) and assists per game (10th, 9.58).
The Mavs have been especially good at both ends of the clear this season. CMU ranks fourth in Division II with a .903 clear percentage, while they are holding opponents to a .770 clear percentage, which is the 10th-lowest in Division II.
Last Ride
Sunday afternoon could potentially be the final meeting between the Colorado Mesa and CSU Pueblo men's lacrosse programs. CSU Pueblo announced prior to this season that the 2024 season will be their last as a varsity program.
For the first time, an RMAC team will miss the four-team conference tournament after the conference expanded to five teams ahead of 2024. Currently, CSU Pueblo is in that spot thanks to a head-to-head goal differential tiebreaker with Adams State. The two teams have split with one another, but Adams State defeated CSU Pueblo by four goals while CSUP beat Adams by just two goals.
The ThunderWolves need to upset either No. 17 CMU or No. 15 Westminster in their final two matches of the season to jump Adams State and qualify for the tourney. Otherwise, CSUP's season – and tenure in Division II – will be over.
The RMAC is set to be at five teams again next season with the addition of Dominican and the subtraction of CSUP.
In the Polls
Colorado Mesa fell two spots after the loss to Westminster, as the Mavericks are now ranked No. 17 in the USILA national poll. Westminster, the RMAC's other ranked program, rose to No. 15, swapping spots with the Mavericks. The Mavericks are 2-3 against nationally ranked teams, with a win and a loss to Westminster, a win over No. 20 Lewis and losses to No. 3 Tampa and No. 18 Maryville.
Colorado Mesa was picked to finish first in the RMAC in a poll of the league's five head coaches. The Mavericks received three first-place votes and one second-place vote from the conference's other schools (head coaches rank other programs without voting for their own) and finished with 15 points in the poll.
Longtime rival Westminster received two first-place votes and two second-place votes from the other RMAC schools and finished second in the poll with 14 points. RMAC newcomer Concordia University Irvine, in its first year as a Division II varsity program but straight off winning a club lacrosse national championship, finished third in the poll with nine points while Adams State (seven points) and CSU Pueblo (five) rounded things out.
Regional Rankings
The NCAA's first regional rankings were released earlier this week as a preliminary list of the teams under consideration for the NCAA tournament. Colorado Mesa was not one of the eight teams mentioned in the South region.
The teams that made the first alphabetical rankings were: Lenoir-Rhyne, Limestone, Maryville, Rockhurst, Rollins, Tampa, UIndy and Wingate.
About Adams State
Adams State is 1-10 overall and 1-5 in RMAC play. The Grizzlies beat CSU Pueblo 15-11 back on March 6, but recently lost the return trip to Pueblo by a 14-12 score. Most recently, Adams State lost to nonconference opponent Tusculum University 17-13 on April 11. In four games against the RMAC's top three schools in CMU, Westminster and CUI, the Grizzlies have been outscored 76-13.
The Grizzlies have two 15-goal scorers in junior Matthew Lash and senior Dawson Balabanoff. Lash also has a team-high 10 assists while Balabanoff has been on fire recently, scoring five goals in each of ASU's last two games against CSU Pueblo and Tusculum. Balabanoff has scored 13 of his 20 points this season in the last two games.
The Grizzlies have split time between two goalies. Ryan Berger is the primary starter, with 135 saves against 165 goals allowed for an 18.71 goals against average and a .450 save percentage. Jamisen Blackwell has appeared in five games in relief, compiling 16 saves against 36 goals allowed for a 16.52 goals against average and a .308 save percentage. Logan Brewer leads the team with 23 caused turnovers and leads all non-goalies with 32 ground balls.
The Mavs are 30-0 all-time against Adams State, including a 20-3 win earlier this season.
About CSU Pueblo
CSU Pueblo is 2-10 overall with a 1-5 record in conference play. The ThunderWolves began the year 0-9, but won back-to-back games against Adams State 14-12 and Tusculum 14-11. Most recently, CSUP fell to RMAC opponent CUI by a 21-7 score on April 12. The ThunderWolves still need help to qualify for the conference tournament, as they trail Adams State on head-to-head goal differential (winning by two and losing by four).
Andrew Dzubak leads the Pack offensively with 23 goals and 16 assists. Dzubak is tied for sixth in the RMAC in goals, tied for fourth in assists and sixth in points while ranking tied for third in the RMAC with 91 shots. Dzubak produced in both of CSUP's wins, scoring four goals and three assists against Adams and a hat trick with one assist against Tusculum.
Behind Dzubak, Kyle Parker and Lane Lessley have scored 17 goals apiece. Lessley scored five times against ASU but hasn't played in CSUP's last two games. The ThunderWolves have a .251 shot conversion percentage and a .393 face off win percentage. They have had three goalies play over 100 minutes.
The Mavericks are 20-0 all-time versus CSU Pueblo, including a 20-4 win earlier this year.
Print Friendly Version
