The road warriors.
The Mavericks have four home games, and they are playing 12 games on the road. Three of the four games that are in Grand Junction will be played against Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) opponents.
“I think we all forgot what a real season looks like because 2020 was cut in half, last year we played an abbreviated schedule and we ended up with five home games not including the RMAC Tournament and then seven away games, so you almost had a little bit more balance there. This year we are back to just four home games and 12 away games so there is going to be a challenge there,” Head Coach Vince Smith said.
Reigning RMAC Attacker of the year Hunter Holcomb rolls to his left to get away from his defender to find an open teammate while Jed Brummett stands on the crease for a potential quick stick opportunity. |The Criterion Stock Photo
Most of the guys that we are bringing on the trip have all traveled before, we have seven guys that this is their first time traveling whether their upperclassmen or freshmen, so we should be able to manage the expectation of the travel, now it just becomes managing our bodies and really putting it together when we do get on the road.”
Colorado Mesa University (CMU) returned everyone from their high-powered offense last year and added more depth with transfers along with freshmen.
CMU averaged 16 goals per game and assisted on 11.3 goals per game last year. The Mavericks had seven players finish with 20 or more points in 2021 and all seven are back on the roster, the Mavericks are poised to be the highest scoring offense in the RMAC for the fourth year in a row.
CMU had four different players finish with 14 or more assists last year and sophomore midfielder Sergio Pelayo led the team with 16. The ball movement kept defenses constantly on the move and gave CMU high percentage looks that led them to a 9-2 record last year.
“They are moving the ball well and finding each other. Preseason is always a little tough because guys are always trying to prove themselves even if they are returners because they don’t want to be on the second line, they want to be first-line or they want to be one of the first three attackmen. I think once we get into gameplay, we’ll see that they are willing to share the ball a little more and really do what you mention: assist, be the teammate versus in practice it is really easy to be selfish because you want to make your play,” Smith said.
The Mavericks swept the RMAC awards last year with sophomore attackman/midfielder Hunter Holcomb named the RMAC Attacker of the Year, redshirt sophomore midfielder James Steinke was the Midfielder of the Year James Steinke and the Freshman of the Year went to faceoff man Dylan Checketts. Head Coach Vince Smith was named the RMAC Coach of the Year as well.
Despite sweeping the season awards and winning the RMAC Regular Season Championship, they fell 13-17 in the tournament championship to Westminster College (WC). The Mavericks will get their first shot at the Griffins this year on Sunday, February 27 at noon in the home opener.
CMU has five teams on their schedule that either received votes or are ranked in the Division II preseason national rankings. WC, Rollins College, the University of Tampa, Florida Tech University and Rockhurst University all received votes or are ranked in the DII poll.
It will be the first time that CMU has played Rollins College and the University of Tampa since the 2019 season.
The Mavericks will host Colorado College in April, the Tigers are the No. 12 team in the nation in the United State Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association rankings.
In order to compete and win games against the best of the best, the Mavericks defense is going to need people to step up.
Redshirt junior defender Vinny Curci has been the leader of the defense in the past two seasons, but he will miss the season due to a knee injury.
“I think we’re going to have a different look to [the defense], but I think in a lot of ways we are a lot more aggressive and we’re a lot more athletic. Deandre and Brian are athletic defensemen, but we brought in guys that move a little bit faster, are a lot longer. Brian and Deandre were each 5 foot 10 inches and 5 foot 11 inches and the two guys that are eyeing up to replace them right now are 6 foot 3 inches and 6 foot 5 inches. So, when you can get a little bit bigger and longer, you might be a little bit younger, and we are losing a ton of game experience from losing those guys, but we are going to be a little bit more athletic and lengthier which I think is going to pose a significant challenge to some teams this year,” Smith said
To make matters worse, their only returning goalie, redshirt sophomore Nolan Hoffman, will miss the opening three games due to an ankle injury. Hoffman is the only goaltender on CMU’s roster that has seen time in a collegiate game leaving the first road trip’s goalie situation up in the air.
Redshirt freshman goalie Mac Bayless transferred in from the University of Tampa, but he didn’t see much time on the field with the Spartans. Freshmen goaltenders Reece Sullivan and Calvin Doucette are the other two on the roster but have yet to participate in an NCAA regular season game.
“After the save, Reece is probably the most fundamental, but just straight seeing the defense, I think Mac is the best. Just straight saving the ball, I would say that Calvin is best. They all have the one thing that they are really good at,” Hoffman said.
The Maverick’s open the season on Wednesday, Feb. 9 at 2:00 p.m. against the University of Alabama-Huntsville in Huntsville, Ala. CMU will travel to Jacksonville, Fla. to take on Rollins College on Feb. 12 at 11:00 a.m.