Sports Reporter
Photo by: Brian Wise
mfreter@mavs.coloradomesa.edu
The men’s lacrosse team took the field for the last time this season and gave CMU fans a game to remember.
With their record of 6-6, the Mavericks were on the verge of a losing season one year after winning the conference championship. The Mavs rallied from a one-goal deficit in the fourth quarter and held off a furious comeback attempt by Adams State to beat their in-state rivals 10-9 at Walker Field.
“This game is always important to us because we have never lost to Adams State,” senior Johnny Nitti said. “Every time we play them, we have to come out and show them who the better team is in Colorado.”
CMU started the day with a goal from Michael Beimford off of a fast break and another from Steve Brandenburg with a time and room shot to put the Mavericks up 2-0 at the end of the first period.
Beimford would add another goal early in the second on a man-up advantage to extend the lead to three. The Grizzlies finally found their momentum shortly after and tied the game with three straight goals. CMU was called for two penalties in the period, but the man-down unit (ranked sixth in the nation with a .821 stopping percentage) was able to kill the penalties successfully.
With less than five minutes in the period, Beimford found the net for his third goal and third hat trick of the season, putting the Mavericks ahead 4-3 at halftime.
The Grizzlies scored in the first two minutes of the half to tie the game off a fast break and, after a back-and-forth battle, a shot in the top corner by Griffin Perkiel put the Mavs ahead 7-6 at the end of the period.
Beimford scored his fourth goal of the game early in the fourth to put the Mavs up by two. Goals by Robinson and Mitch Flaherty extended the lead to four with eight minutes to play.
Adams State scored a goal with six minutes remaining and tallied two in the final 30 seconds to shorten the lead to one. The Grizzlies won the final faceoff and tried to force the ball in a desperation attempt, but Nitti intercepted the pass and sealed the game for CMU.
“At first, I thought I missed the pass and ruined the game by leaving my guy wide open,” Nitti said. “But I looked at my stick and saw that I had it and just started running.”
Beimford led all point scorers with four goals and an assist, and Josh Russell tallied four assists. Goalkeeper Brad Brandenburg ended his season with a 6-6 record and recorded 15 saves in the game.
“We didn’t have the season we were expecting to, so everyone came into this game thinking, ‘this is where we start next season,’” Assistant Coach Ryan Swope said. “I think we made the statement that we have the heart to compete and come out with the win in close games like this.”
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