mfreter@mavs.coloradomesa.edu

Men’s soccer played some of the best teams in the country this weekend in a tough stretch of matches before opening RMAC play. They went 2-1 on the week, defeating Dixie State and No. 20 Northeastern State University before falling to No. 13 Fort Hayes State University. The Mavericks (2-1-1) have only been in season for two weeks, but have already been tested and have played exceptionally well. Sophomore forward Tim Hofer explained that his team was well prepared for the tough games.

“It was definitely difficult, but overall I thought we did a good job,” Hofer said. “We made them work around us and it seemed to work for the most part.”

The Mavs started the week with a 1-0 win over Dixie State on the road. Junior midfielder Marco Escobar put in the only goal of the game in the 17th minute off a rebound and Micah Conrad picked up the shutout win with six saves. The real challenge began five days later when CMU hosted Northeastern State at Walker Field.

After two early goals from Kevin and Nestor Escobar, the Mavs saw their lead slip away when the Riverhawks scored two quick goals in the second period. The two teams played to a stalemate and were forced into overtime. It only took nine minutes for Tim Hofer to put the golden goal into the back of the net to secure the second straight victory for the Mavericks.

In their final contest of the week, CMU traveled to Hays, Kansas to take on Fort Hayes State. The Mavs and the Tigers traded goals in the first half, but could not find an answer for a Tiger goal in the 69th minute. Conrad took the loss with four saves and two goals against. Despite the loss, Hofer believes that playing these teams will help the Mavericks for the difficult RMAC stretch that they are about to enter.

“The RMAC is tough, it has a lot of good ranked teams,” Hofer said. “I think that playing these ranked teams early in the season gives us an edge on what the RMAC will be like.”

The Mavs will face Fort Lewis to open RMAC play Friday at Walker Field.