The Mavericks lose 10-11 in an overtime thriller to the Trojans in their opening game of the season.
The University of Mount Olive (UMO) entered the game ranked eighth in the nation.
Freshman midfielder Sergio Pelayo led the Mavericks in scoring with two goals and two assists which all came in the first half.
“His speed is uncoachable, and unstoppable in a lot of ways. His speed really allowed him to shake free today and he made a lot of nice decisions with the lacrosse ball,” Head Coach Vince Smith said.
Colorado Mesa University (CMU) won 18 of 23 faceoffs in the game.
Redshirt freshman faceoff man Cole Emmanuel won 17 of 21 faceoffs, and he scored one goal in the contest.
Redshirt freshman goalie Mogie Watson finished the game with 13 saves off 24 shots on goal.
UMO started their comeback with 7:28 left in the fourth quarter as Brandon Hickey put a shot in the back of the net.
Redshirt freshman attackman/midfielder AJ Switzer got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty with 3:57 left in the quarter. The penalty left Switzer in the penalty box for three minutes, and the penalty was a non-releasable penalty meaning that he would have to serve the full time.
The Trojans were able to take advantage of the penalty with Sam Skousen scored 21 seconds later to bring UMO with two points. Connor Watson brought the Trojans within one point as Watson picked up a ground ball in traffic and got a shot off that got past M. Watson.
Blake Tallon tied the game up at nine with 23 seconds left in the quarter as he picked up a ground ball off M. Watson’s save to put it right back in the net. C. Watson then gave UMO the lead with nine seconds left in the game.
Emmanuel immediately answered as he won the faceoff to himself and stormed down the field to tie the game up at 10 with two seconds left in regulation.
“I’m torn as a coach because if we played better the last six minutes of the game, it’s not even going to overtime, but still trying to remain happy and positive to go into overtime is always difficult,” Smith said. “So, my head is thinking, hopefully, we can win the next faceoff and get the ball in overtime because that’s all it’s going to take. That’s what I told them after the fourth ended, is it’s only going to take one groundball.”
The Mavericks lost the opening faceoff in overtime and Emmanuel was called for an illegal body check on the same play. This gave the Trojans a one-minute man-up opportunity.
Aidan Lalonde took a shot 3:19 left in overtime which was saved by M. Watson but he didn’t cleanly pick up the groundball. This caused to ball to roll into the net to give UMO the lead and the win.
CMU entered the second half with a 7-4 lead, but the tides turned in the second half.
Redshirt freshman attackman Jed Brummett got the Mavericks on the board first just 48 seconds into the third quarter. Switzer scored CMU’s ninth goal of the game with 11:15 left in the quarter.
Watson scored the Trojans lone goal of the third quarter with 9:06 left, but both defenses locked in as neither team allowed another goal in the third.
The Mavericks was called for three penalties in the game with all coming in the fourth quarter and overtime. CMU served five minutes in penalty minutes with the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty being the longest due to it being a non-releasable penalty.
“So, I would just say a little bit of youthfulness, over anxiousness, and poor discipline. Poor discipline altogether and those are the things that can be attributed to those just being a little young, and not having experience and the game knowledge of that you have to play the fourth quarter a little different than the first quarter,” Smith said.
CMU continues its road trip on Friday, March 12 at 2 p.m. against Shorter University in Rome, Ga.
