The Mavericks had their first road game of the season on Sunday, losing to Northern Colorado by a final score of 51-50. Despite the tough finish, the Mavericks scored more points in the match alone then they have the past two seasons combined.
The game was a back and forth affair, leading to several lead changes throughout the first half. The Mavericks kept a well-balanced attack in the first half, scoring multiple tries to keep the pressure on the Bears. With the talent on both sides of the ball, it was destined to be a close game. The Mavericks rode their defense to a 29-20 halftime lead.
At the start of the second half, the Bears had significant help from their outside center, who put on a display to give the team a 12-point lead with 8 minutes left.
Head coach Mackenzie Lewis knew the impactful second half would come back to bite the team.
“We let him run all over us. Their outside center was pretty talented and we didn’t fix some mistakes as fast as we should have,” Lewis said.
The Mavs fought back, scoring a fury of points to take the score to 51-50. Although scoring many tries, the Mavs failed to convert multiple conversions throughout the game. Minor errors ended up haunting the team in the final minutes of the match, as the Mavs were unable to capitalize.
Although disappointed with the loss, Joseph Kamara was encouraged by the team’s performance. The rest of the season has him excited and optimistic.
“The team is beginning to come together. Today was a great example of 15 players playing as 1 whole unit. We are starting to get this wonderful chemistry and I feel like this season will be a great one,” Kamara said.
After scoring one try last week, the Mavericks are encouraged their offense came to play against the Bears.
Lewis acknowledged losing by 1 is a tough loss, but knows her players will come out better for it next week.
“They played with a lot of heart. The players improved from last week. It’s a tough one to lose, but we’ll learn from it. We’ll use the week to get ready and hopefully get that first win,” Lewis said.
The loss moves the Mavs to 0-2 on the season. The team will look to get into the win column on Sept. 17, hitting the road to battle Colorado School of Mines in Golden at 11 a.m.
