The Mavericks lost out on the chance at hosting the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Tournament with a 13-10 loss to the Griffins.
Westminster College (WC) will host the conference tournament by virtue of the conference’s fourth tiebreak of goals scored in RMAC play. The Mavericks and Griffins split the season series with each game having a three-goal margin and both finished the regular season with a 5-1 conference record.
So, the tiebreaker moved to goal differential in conference games with a maximum of a six-goal margin for any particular game. The Griffins won the fourth tiebreaker as they scored 101 goals in their six games in conference play which was four more than Colorado Mesa University (CMU).
The Mavericks ran into hot goaltending from Gavin Beilman and Jacob Miller for WC as they combined for 27 saves. CMU shot the ball 53 times in the game and put 37 shots on the net.
CMU had three different players record two goals in the game and had seven different goal scorers in the game. Redshirt sophomore midfielder James Steinke, sophomore faceoff man Dylan Checketts and redshirt senior attackman Carson Schwark all recorded two goals in the game.
Checketts helped the Mavericks dominate the faceoff x as he went 16 of 19 to contribute to the Maverick’s 24 faceoff wins. He scored two goals on five shots in the Maverick’s effort.
Steinke got the Mavericks on the scoreboard first in the game just 51 seconds into the game as he dodged down the right alley and fired a shot on the near-side pipe. Andoni Odencrantz came back with a goal of his own to tie the game at one with 13:08 left in the first quarter.
Schwark came back with a goal 40 seconds later to put the Mavericks up 2-1. WC ended the first quarter on a three-goal run with goals from Spencer Whinery and Meritt McMahon to take a 4-2 lead.
The Griffins kept their run alive with three more goals to take a 7-2 lead with 8:40 left in the second quarter with the six-goal run across two quarters. Redshirt sophomore midfielder Drew Eickelman ended the Griffin’s run with 8:04 remaining in the second quarter to bring CMU within four goals.
Joseph Celentano lifted WC back up by five goals as he dodged through the teeth of the defense to finish with a bounce shot. Freshman midfielder/attacker JJ Brummett scored the final goal of the first half with a jump shot that found the bottom left corner with 3:48 left in the first half.
WC controlled the third quarter as they held the Mavericks scoreless in the third quarter until the final two minutes of the quarter. Gavin Piva got the Griffins on the board in the second half with 12:40 remaining in the third quarter. Merritt McMahon, Joseph Celentano and Jacob Pickett scored goals in the third quarter to put WC up 12-4 with 1:46 left in the quarter.
Checketts ended the run for the Griffins with a goal off the faceoff as he won it to himself, raced down the field and fired a shot into the net.
The Maverick’s offense came alive in the fourth quarter as redshirt sophomore attackman Jed Brummett opened the scoring up in the quarter. Checketts and Steinke added two more goals in the opening five minutes of the fourth quarter to bring CMU within four goals.
Schwark scored his second goal of the game with 8:31 left in the game to bring the Mavericks within three 12-9. Odencrantz scored the final goal for WC with 3:57 left in the quarter to put them back up by four goals. Holcomb scored the final goal of the game for CMU with 46 seconds left in the game.
Both teams turned the ball over 13 times in the game. The Griffins won the ground ball battle as they picked up 12 ground balls compared to the seven for CMU.
The Maverick’s freshman goaltenders Calvin Doucette and Reece Sullivan combined to make 15 saves in the game as they split time in the net. Doucette made eight saves in the game and Sullivan made seven saves.
CMU’s next game is Friday, May 6 against Colorado State University-Pueblo in Salt Lake City, Utah in the RMAC Tournament Semifinals. The time and exact location are still to be determined, check the CMU Athletics website for updates.
