The Colorado Mesa Men’s Lacrosse team lost to Westminster University 14-8 in their first head-to-head matchup of the season. Westminster was led by Kolton Atkinson who scored three goals. The Mavericks also had 22 turnovers and went 1-4 on the man-up opportunities.
The Mavericks opened scoring up with senior midfielder Michael Dasch Jr. putting a rocket past Sean Edwards. But once Spencer Whinery scored, the rest of the quarter was all Westminster as they would go up 4-1 heading into the second quarter.
The Mavericks shot the ball with volume but couldn’t hit the net as only one of their 10 shots were on goal.
The Mavericks bad luck continued when goaltender Christian Cherry scored on himself after he made a save, and Blake Gross scored on him less than a minute later. Just like that, the Mavericks luck turned as senior midfielder Jack Griffin placed a beautiful elevator shot low to high, and Dasch Jr. followed his lead by getting his second of the game. CMU fought hard for their 11 ground balls in the second quarter as they tried to turn the momentum of the game.
To start the third, the bad luck flipped as Edwards scored on himself, but it wouldn’t last long as Westminster flipped it into a three-goal swing. WU picked up a penalty shortly after their run and the sophomore attackman/midfielder scored to swing the momentum back towards the Mavericks. The scoring came early and often in this quarter as there were nine combined goals in the third. Cherry was replaced by redshirt sophomore Nick Wilson late in the quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Griffin opened up all scoring as he picked up his second of the day, and junior attackman/midfielder Joe Wulforst IV followed his lead and picked up two goals in a row. Those would be the Mavericks last goals on the day as Westminster scored three of their own to put the nail in the coffin. WU only had five turnovers in the quarter compared to CMU’s eight.
The Mavericks only had 15 shots on goal throughout the whole game, but they also were 100% on clearing. CMU won 18-26 faceoffs on the day and only lost the groundball battle 39-42. Wulforst IV led the team in scoring with three goals followed by Griffin who had two goals and one assist.
The Mavericks next game will be Tuesday, April 9th at 6 pm against Johnson and Wales University at Walker Field.
