Only two days after suffering a tough loss against Fort Lewis College, the Mavericks were back to their efficient ways against Adams State University and defeated the Grizzlies 3-0. CMU was on the attack all afternoon and made sure to strike quick twice to put the Grizzlies to bed.
After getting shutout in 110 minutes of play in their last match, the Mavericks only needed just under two minutes to strike first against the Grizzlies and take a 1-0 lead. Lawan Abary found himself in some space in the open field and Juan Morillon dished it over to the junior who smoked a line drive to the back of the net past Grizzlies goalie Jacob Faircloth.
The offensive momentum for the Mavericks continued throughout the first half. CMU pushed the ball down the field, breezing past defenders looking for crosses over the middle. Derrick Eberling was inches away from giving CMU a 2-0 lead but his shot was wide right.
The Grizzlies were attempting long shots for a good portion of the first 45 minutes. Unable to get close to CMU goalie Briley Guarneri and the goal, the offense kicked shots over the goal with good range on them but not enough accuracy.
ASU nearly scored their first goal with just seven seconds left in the first half but Guarneri continued his hot stretch of play. Hayden Sutton’s shot was seaming towards the top of the goal but Guarneri leaped high into the air and corralled the save with both hands.
The Mavericks made striking early a theme in this contest. After just one minute into the second half, it was Abary again padding CMU’s lead. Matthew Miller sent his pass to Abary who went into a slide on the left side of the net and pushed the ball past Faircloth. The score was Abary’s 13th of the season.
CMU kept the pressure to a maximum and forced the Grizzlies into catch up mode. The rushed play had the Grizzlies committing fouls, and the Mavericks were awarded a penalty kick shortly after.
Abary took the PK for CMU, but goalie Shawn Mckeekan, who started the second half for the Grizzlies, was not fazed by Abary’s kick and secured a quick save, eliciting cheers from the home crowd.
The Mavericks weren’t done, however, and continued their offensive mastery. Their third score came from a penalty kick. Redshirt freshman Ross Elliott lined up his shot and sent it perfectly to the left were Mckeekan was nowhere to be found. The goalie dove to his right but Elliott’s shot was right through the seam.
CMU finished with 18 shots and were much more accurate than the Grizzlies. CMU had 11 shots on goal while ASU had 13 shots but just four on goal. Guarneri finished with four saves to push his season total to 45 and registered his third shutout of the season
Abary had 6 shots (five on goal) and two scores.
The victory pushes the Mavericks to an 11-2-4 record with a 9-2-3 RMAC record. With Colorado School of Mines securing the RMAC regular-season title and the #1 seed in the RMAC Tournament, all five other teams played for seeding.
The Mavericks finished with the #3 seed and will face #6 seed MSU-Denver on Tuesday, Oct. 30.
