By: Chris Day - CMU Sports Information

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla.— The Colorado Mesa University Mavericks are heading to the NCAA Division II Men's Lacrosse Tournament for the first time in eight years and just the second time in program history after they claimed a signature 18-14 win over Flagler College in Friday evening's overall Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship game here at the Saints' Lacrosse Field .
 
The Mavs, ranked 17^th in the latest USILA NCAA Division II Poll, led the ninth-ranked Saints, 10-6 at the half and then used a 6-1 run over six total minutes in the late third and early fourth quarters to pull away for the win, certainly one of the biggest in program history.
 
The game served as an the decider of the PBC's automatic qualification spot in to next week's NCAA Tournament and pit the Rocky Mountain Division Champion Mavericks, now 13-3 overall, against the Peach Belt Division Champion Saints, who fell to 14-3.
 
The Saints could still join the Mavs in the NCAA Tournament, checking in fourth in the latest South Regional Rankings with eight teams, including the champions of five conferences, getting an invite during Sunday evening's selection show that will air at 5:30 p.m. MDT on NCAA.com.
 
The Mavs, who were outside of the top 10 of the regional rankings, faced a must win situation and delivered.   
 
They are now guaranteed to hear their name called during the selection show for the first time since 2017 and will find out who and where they will play in the opening round of the national tournament, which begins Wednesday (May 7) on campus sites, during that show.
 
Eleven different Mavericks scored in Friday's victory as Connor Jensen recorded three goals and two assists to earn one of the Mavs' six spots on the all-tournament team.
 
Shaden Shields, playing in his home state, was named as the MVP after making 16 saves.
 
The Naples native had 20 in last Saturday's Rocky Mountain Division Tournament Championship game and has recorded 48 in the Mavs' three postseason games.
 
Senior faceoff specialist Mike Edwards also had a monster night, winning 19 of his 27 draws while claiming a career-high 12 groundballs.  He also scored two goals for the first time in as did JJ Brummett, Dillon Pless, Nik Moore and Erich Petersen.
 
Brummett, Edwards and Petersen were also named to the all-tournament team as was Wolfi Gottschalk, who had three caused turnovers and two groundballs in Friday's title-winning effort.
 
The goals were flying in early on as Brummett scored just 74 seconds into the game before the Saints roared back to take a 3-1 lead.  The Mavs then scored the next four and led 5-4 after the first quarter.
 
They then had a 4-goal run in the second quarter and led 10-6 at the break before Tyler Douglass, who had seven goals for the Saints on the night, added two around a Matt Mitrega scoop and score as the Saints closed the gap to 10-9 with 9:06 left in the third quarter.
 
The goal scoring then slowed down as neither team could find the net for more than six minutes before Erich Petersen triggered the game-clinching run with CMU's 11^th overall goal with 2:59 left in the third.
 
Moore and Carson Points then extended the lead to 13-9 at the end of the third quarter.
 
Mitrega then won the fourth quarter face off and dished off to Douglas for a Saint goal just ten seconds into the final stanza to close the gap to 13-10.
 
However, Jensen, Deuce Kirschke and Julius Petersen all scored over the next 3 ½ minutes as the Mavs built a 6-goal lead, their largest of the night before cruising to the win over the final 11 minutes.
 
Erich Petersen finished the game with four points while Brummett and Logan Smith had three apiece.
 
The Saints out-shot the Mavericks, 52-40 although CMU had a 36-32 advantage in groundballs as Edwards dominated the faceoff game against Mitrega, who was just 12-for-34.
 
The Mavs took eight penalties throughout the evening as the Saints were able to cash in on three.  The Mavs were 0-for-3 on extra-man opportunities.

CMU is now 3-0 all-time against the Saints.
 
The Mavs will enter the NCAA Tournament as winners of three straight and nine of their last ten.
 
They have also won each of their last nine postseason games over the last four years.