CUI, Colorado Mesa Move On to 2024 RMAC Men’s Lacrosse Tournament Championship
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Concordia University Irvine and Colorado Mesa won their 2024 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Men’s Lacrosse Tournament Semifinals on Friday, April 26, to advance to the Tournament Championship in Grand Junction, Colo. The Golden Eagles knocked off the Griffins, while the Mavericks took care of business against the Grizzlies.
#3 CUI 15, #2 Westminster 9
The Golden Eagles became the first lowest seed to win a RMAC Men’s Lacrosse Tournament game. CUI controlled the matchup from the opening faceoff, taking a commanding 11-1 lead at the half. Westminster did not go down without a fight, scoring the first five goals of the second 30 minutes to get the game close. The Griffins would get within five, but the Golden Eagles had an answer each time it got close. CUI’s Matt Carresi and Drew Buckley each scored four times and leaned on goalie Daniel Yang’s 12 saves to keep command of the contest. No Westminster player had more than one goal, and RMAC Attacker of the Year Merritt McMahon was limited to two shots on goal. The Golden Eagles set the tone with their faceoff win percentage, earning 16 of 28.
#1 Colorado Mesa 22, #4 Adams State 2
A lightning delay pushed the start time of the second semifinal, but it did not faze the Mavericks. They scored 13 unanswered goals to start the semifinal matchup and never looked back. Colorado Mesa’s Hunter Holcomb set the program’s single-game assists record with six, accounting for five of those in the first half. CMU had 17 different players find the back of the net, led by James Steinke’s four tallies. He recorded a first-half hat trick to get the home crowd at Community Hospital Unity Field going. Mesa’s defensive unit allowed the Grizzlies to get off just 13 shots and score twice, while the faceoff unit was nearly perfect in the circle. Dylan Checketts was 13-for-14 in that category and also added a game-high 12 ground balls.
The Golden Eagles and Mavericks will square off in the 2024 RMAC Men’s Lacrosse Tournament Championship on Saturday, April 27 at Community Hospital Unity Field. The action is set to commence at 5 p.m. MT and can be seen on the RMAC Network for a day pass of $9.95.