A promising 2014 season for the CMU lacrosse team was delayed last week due to severe weather in the Midwest that cancelled two of their games. The Mavs felt that two winnable games were stripped from the schedule and were eager to take the field and prove that they are worthy of national recognition.

A match against in-state rival Adams State was their first test, and they delivered in an 11-5 drubbing of the Grizzlies. Attackman Stephen Dunn explained how the beginning of the season being delayed only added to the team’s excitement of playing on Saturday.

“It was great to get out on the field again after having to wait an extra week,” Dunn said. “We were definitely hungry to play a game and not have to keep playing each other in practice.”

Preseason All-Conference attackman Michael Beimford tallied the first goal of the season for the Mavs just under five minutes into the game off a feed from freshman Jake Douglas to take the lead that would not be surrendered for the remainder of the game. University of Maryland transfer David Solomon and junior left-hander Mitch Flaherty added two more goals shortly after to push the lead to 3-0. Adams State tallied their first point of the game to cut the lead to two, but senior Michael Giffen snuck a bounce shot past the Grizzly goalkeeper to finish off the quarter with a 4-1 lead.

Desperate to make a comeback, the Grizzlies began an all-out assault on preseason All-American goalie Brad Brandenburg as they recorded 12 shots in just two minutes to open the second quarter. Brandenburg and the top-rated man-down unit were able to stave off the attack without surrendering a goal. Both teams were stagnant offensively for most of the quarter until Adams State scored to keep the game competitive at 4-2. CMU responded immediately with a great catch and finish by Dunn from Solomon and another goal from Flaherty to give the Mavericks firm control going into halftime.

The second half proved to be no different as the Mavs continued to pile on goals against an overmatched Adams State team. Freshman Joe Moreno scored the first goal of his collegiate career in the third off of a helper from Beimford to push the lead to five goals. The Grizzlies added their third goal of the game midway through the third period, but the Mavs seized momentum back with a breakaway goal by Matt Landon right off the face-off and a man-down goal by Griffin Perkiel. CMU would finish off its scoring on the night with a tally from Daniel Caddoo and the third goal of the night from Flaherty to seal the score at 11-5. Head Coach A.J. Stevens was happy with his team’s first victory of the season, but explained that the negative plays need to be cut down in order for them to be successful throughout the season.

“I think we played well, but we didn’t live up to the full potential of this team,” Stevens said. “We had way too many penalties and didn’t make decisions as quickly as we needed to in some situations. We will have a lot to work on in practice before our next game.”

Dunn also explained that the win was a step in the right direction, but there is still a long road ahead to getting the school’s first bid into the NCAA tournament in May.

“We are happy, but not satisfied,” Dunn said. “We have to grow every game and just need to keep working hard.”

CMU will return to the field next week against startup program Rockhurst University at Walker Field.

mfreter@mavs.coloradomesa.edu