By: Cody Bush, Associate Commissioner / Strategic Communications
SALT LAKE CITY – No. 1 seed Westminster University will face No. 3 seed Concordia University Irvine with the 2026 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championship Tournament title on the line after both teams won their semifinal contests on Friday at Demke Field.
The Griffins and Golden Eagles will meet for the third time this season. Westminster won 22-10 in Irvine back in early February and the Griffins won 11-9 at home two months later. Westminster also enters teh championship game with a seven game win streak while CUI brings a four-game win streak into the game.
No 1 Westminster def. No. 4 Northwest Nazarene, 20-10
Tournament debutante Northwest Nazarene closed within a goal with of top-seed Westminster with 5:03 remaining in the first half, but the host Griffins used a 91-1 run that spanned halftime to break the game open en route to a 20-10 victory. Westminster built a 6-2 lead after one quarter but Northwest Nazarene scored three straight to start the second quarter to close within one goal with 8:06 remaining and traded goals to stay within that goal, 7-6, with 5:03 left in the half. But Westminster started to pull away with Kaydin Berry's goal 40 seconds later which started a 4-0 run to end the half that gave the hosts an 11-6 halftime lead. Northwest Nazarene scored the second half's first goal but Westminster stormed back with five consecutive goals, with Luke Sillstrop's goal at the 1:26 mark closing the streak with Westminster leading 16-7. Eight Westminster scorers finished with two goals each with Sillstrop, Ridge Crouch, and Harrison Edwards each finishing wtih two goals and an assist. Northwest Nazarene's Colton Altimus and Kellen Young each had three goals.
No. 3 Concordia Irvine def. No. 2 Colorado Mesa, 13-12 (OT)
Colorado Mesa led 12-8 with 12:50 left in regulation, but Concordia University Irvine scored the final four goals of regulation and Max Texter found the back of the net with 1:07 left in overtime to send the Golden Eagles to the championship game with a 13-12 overtime win. Colorado Mesa seemed primed to avenge their regular-season ending losso to Concordia Irvine, scoring seven consecutive goals to build an 8-2 lead with 7:25 left in the second quarter. CUI would stem the tide and trim the deficit to three goals several times – the last at 11-8 with 13:40 left in regulation. Carson Points goal 50 seconds later put Colorado Mesa up four goals, but proved to be the Mavericks final goal of the game. Concordia Irvine scored regulation's final four goals, with Jeremy Barnes scoring the game-tying goal with one second remaining in a man-up situation. Both teams had early scoring opportunities in overtime, but Texter ended the game with his first goal of the game. CUI's Matt Carresi finished with six goals and two assists to lead all scorers. Connor Jensen had three goals and three assists to lead Colorado Mesa's offense.
About the RMAC
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, headquartered in Colorado Springs, is a premier NCAA Division II conference with 15 institutions located in Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Utah. The RMAC currently competes in 22 NCAA Division II sports and has earned 71 national championships and 53 national runners-up since 1992. Founded in 1909, the RMAC is the most historic athletic conference in the western United States and Division II.
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