ALAMOSA, Colo. (April 10th, 2016)—Despite taking an early lead, the Adams State University Grizzlies men's lacrosse team was unable to fend off a strong offense by the visiting Colorado Mesa University Mavericks earlier on Sunday. The Grizzlies ended up falling 9-3 to the Mavericks.
Emmitt MacFarlane drew the first blood of the game, with his goal just two minutes into the first quarter. MacFarlane was assisted by
Collin Cranfield, to give Adams State an early 1-0 lead.
The Mavericks would counteract that goal with one of their own to tie the game up at 1-1, but Morgan Osbourne (unassisted) would get the lead back for the Grizzlies just seven seconds after Colorado Mesa's goal.
At the 3:39 mark, the Mavericks once again tied the game up. They then added two more goals to take a 4-2 lead over Adams State going into the second quarter.
Colorado Mesa would then add two more on to their lead in the second quarter to take a 6-2 lead heading into half time.
9:05 into the third quarter,
Seth Stowell (assist by
Drew Kerigan) cut the lead in half with his goal during a man-up opportunity to bring the Grizzlies within three of the Mavericks.
Unfortunately, Colorado Mesa would once again add two more goals to bring the score to 8-3 heading into the final stanza of play.
The fourth quarter saw just one goal from the Mavericks to end the game.
"Tough day, very tough day. I don't think we put together a full quarter of consistent play today, let alone a full game. I think at times we didn't have the passion and enthusiasm required to win college lacrosse games. Again we're so young and still learning, going through some growing pains as we continue to develop, however we can't just fall back on that every time. We have to realize by now what the stakes are, what's needed to achieve the end result we're looking for." Head Coach
Jason Levesque said after the game.
"Colorado Mesa didn't win three straight conference championships by accident, they're a very well coached team and a strong program. With that said, I believe in our group and that we could have had a different final score that what we did. We let another opportunity slip through our fingers and you only get so many." Levesque added.Grizzly goaltender,
Connor Johnson, who entered the weekend leading NCAA Division II in saves per game (14.43), faced fourty-five shots from Colorado Mesa. He ended the day with thirteen saves.
The Grizzlies will end their home stint on April 16
th, as they play host to the Colorado State University-Pueblo ThunderWolves. Game is set to begin at 4:00 pm. Fans will be able to follow along with live stats by visiting www.asugrizzlies.com
