On the weekend of its home opener, the Colorado Mesa University men’s soccer went winless during their matches, losing 1-0 to Dixie State College and tying Adams State College, 1-1 in a non-conference matchup.

During the first game, the Mavericks played defensively sound for the first half. However, a mental lapse in the 21st minute allowed Dixie to score off a corner kick. Dixie held on to win 1-0.

“We allowed them to win 50/50 balls, and when you win 50/50 balls it changes the momentum,” head coach Josh Pittman said. “They had the ball in our half at a key part of the game and we were struggling to get the ball out of our half.”

After the first half and a 30-minute lightning delay, the Mavericks came back out on the field and had a lot more control of the ball. Hostility ignited shoving in the final minutes of the game as a fight almost broke out between players, sending the Maverick crowd into an uproar.

CMU took a total of nine shots on Dixie’s goalkeeper, but couldn’t get the ball into the back of the net.

“It came down to us not executing. We didn’t finish our chances when we had good chances,” Pittman said. “They executed and defended great, and we weren’t able to execute.”

On Sunday, the Mavs ended their weekend with a 1-1 draw against Adams State College.

Forward Steve Palma was aggressive throughout the match, taking six shots on net and scoring his first goal of the season.

“It was time to start producing,” Palma said. “We need to be more aggressive. Scoring the goal felt great, but the 1-1 tie didn’t.”

The Mavs outshot Adams State 20-4, with an impressive 13 shots on goal. However, Adams State goalkeeper Paul Piazza stood on his head, halting the Maverick attack with 12 saves. The Mavs were caught offside five times as well.

The Mavericks will begin RMAC play this Friday at Walker Field against Colorado School of Mines at 7 p.m.

cncooper@mavs.coloradomesa.edu