Grand Junction, CO. – The Adams State Men's Lacrosse team opened their season this Friday against one of the tougher competitors in their conference, Colorado Mesa University. Unfortunately, the Grizzlies couldn't take the win to open their season but will look to shake it off and continue playing the game they know.
 
The first quarter of the game started off with Grizzlies going into the defensive and fending off the lethal Mavericks attack unit for the first few minutes. Colorado Mesa would eventually get on the board in the 3^rd minute of the game, going on a short run to put them ahead 0-3. Senior attackman Johnny Rosas made his presence known and slowed the Mavericks momentum with a shot from the circle off an assist from Jacob Austin. The two earned their first points of the season, pulling through on the offensive end as expected. Unfortunately, Mesa's ride and faceoff men were strong, and they maintained possession for a good portion of the rest of the quarter. With possession, the Mavericks were able to pull ahead and end the quarter with a 1-7 lead.
 
15 seconds into the 2^nd quarter, the Mavericks tallied another goal to add to their lead. The Mavericks kept a tight ride on the Grizzlies any time they tried to clear, making it difficult for a transition. The tough ride allowed the Mavericks to keep the Grizzlies offense relatively quiet for the quarter. Ending the 2^nd quarter, the Mavericks still held the lead now at 1-13.
 
In the third, the Grizzlies offense got a few more looks. Rosas put the Mavericks goalie to the test, firing a few hot shots, but the Mavericks goalie stood strong. Not only Rosas, but also the other members of the offensive unit put Mesa's defense under pressure. Eventually, the Grizzlies offense was able to score after putting so much pressure on Mesa. Hot off a save from Brendan William, Donnie Simon helped to clear the ball out and give Rosas a decent feed. Rosas was quick to put it in the cage, scoring his second for the game and season. Coming out of the 3^rd quarter, the score was 2-18 with the Mavericks still leading.
 
For the fourth quarter, the Grizzlies defense held the Mavericks offense to only 3 goals. Defenders blocked the balls as they could, helping their goalie as best possible. Able to draw another penalty, the Grizzlies offense was given another man-up opportunity. Austin, who assisted Rosas earlier in the game, put one in the back of the net himself off of an Alexander Kelly assist. It was the only goal the offense was able to put on in the quarter, the score of the game ending up as 3-21 with the Mavericks taking the win.
 
Adams put 32 shots in, 14 of those shots being shots on goal. Colorado Mesa outshot the Grizzlies with 66 shots, 38 of the shots being on goal. The Grizzlies went 1 for 8 in man-up situations, only capitalizing once. Defensively, both Williams and Michael Navarro stood tall in cage and did the best they could for their team. The two combined for 17 total saves, Williams accounting for 14 of them. The two led relatively effective and efficient clears, going 17 for 24 in terms of success of clearing the ball.
 
Despite the game not going exactly as the Men's team might have hoped, there were flashes of greatness. The offense produced quite a few shots and the expected contributors from last year pulled through. Defense stood strong against a lethal unit of offense, facing some of the best attackers in their conference. The unit combined for about 18 ground balls and 4 caused turnovers, blocking a few shots along the way.
 
The Grizzlies will look to shake off the loss as they travel to Utah for a Sunday afternoon matchup. They will face off against Westminster College, another conference competitor, and they will look to split the weekend with a win over the Griffins.