The Mesa State men’s lacrosse team notched the first victory in program history in front of the home crowd at Walker Field on Saturday afternoon. The Mavs (1-6) narrowly defeated the Adams State Grizzlies 9-7.
The Mavs took an early 3-0 lead over the Grizzlies. Two goals from Dakota Klossner and a clever behind the back goal from Dillon Bernard set the tone for the first quarter. The Mavs only gave up one goal in the first quarter. The Adams State goal was Mesa State goalkeeper Brad Brandenburg’s only real mistake of the game. He lost sight of the ball after it hit the crossbar, which left an Adams State player with an open shot.
The second quarter was similar to the first. Solid offensive play helped the Mavs bag another three goals. Brandenburg made four textbook saves the second quarter, but gave up one goal.
“In the past we have been trying to force things. Now we are trying to look for opportunities and expose weakness, rather than forcing it down their throat,” coach AJ Stevens said.
The offense was hitting on all cylinders and the defense showed little signs of faltering.
A huge blemish on the stat sheet for the Mavs, other than the two goals allowed, was the six minutes of penalties the team gave up.
The third quarter was tougher for the Mavs. The Mavs scored two goals, one from Trace Wollner and another from Trevor Ecton. Three more minutes of penalties allowed Adams State to get back into the game. The Grizzles scored two goals, one from being a man up.
The Mavs entered the fourth quarter with an 8-4 lead. The lead slowly got chipped away by a combination of a lack of offensive breaks and poor decisions by the defense. The Mavs’ lone goal of the quarter gave the home side a cushion to make a few mistakes. Four Mavericks were all penalized with under a minute to go. The defense stood strong, overcame the penalties, and helped Coach Stevens to his program’s first win.
“It’s how we wanted to start our first home game,” Coach Stevens said. “It feels good to represent the school this way.”
Mesa’s Trevor Ecton led the team with three goals, Nick Cosgrove tallied three assists, and Jesse Stone led the team with four penalties for three and a half minutes.
The Men’s Lacrosse team will take on Dominican University at Walker Field April 1 at 7 p.m. Mesa State lost to Dominican 11-6 the last time the schools met.
“It would be nice to get a shot at redemption,” Coach Stevens said.

jdthomas@mesastate.edu