SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster men's lacrosse team pushed No. 18 Colorado Mesa to overtime before falling 14-13 on Saturday afternoon in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action.
 
Westminster (3-5, 3-3 RMAC) led 13-12 when Blake Bruner scored with 7:36 to play in the fourth quarter. Colorado Mesa (11-2, 6-1 RMAC) tied the game with a goal from Connor Larrick with 2:56 to play and then won on a goal from Jack Griffin just 26 seconds into the extra period.
 
The Griffins trailed for most of the first half as the visitors opened the game on a 5-2 advantage. Troy Vance scored as time expired on the first half to cut the Griffins deficit to 9-8 heading into intermission. Ezra Schofield gave the Griffins a 10-9 lead early in the third quarter and the team alternated goals the rest of regulation.
 
Mesa took advantage of winning 20 of 29 faceoffs to finish with a 56-35 edge in shots attempts. The Griffins were able to put 25 of their shots on cage while gong 29 of 31 in clearing attempts. They scored on their only extra-man opportunity and forced Mesa into 13 turnovers.
 
Vance led the Griffins with four goals and 10 shots in defeat. Jacob Taylor scored three goals on his three shots. Brian Dejesus added two goals and Nick Marcy posted three assists.
 
Dalton Tuor had seven faceoff wins for the Griffins and Chase Flinders had a team-high five ground balls. Braedem Pelly added four caused turnovers.
 
Conner McFarlane took the loss in cage despite making a career-high 19 saves. That is the second most saves in a game by a Griffin goalie in the NCAA era.
 
CMU posted a 36-26 advantage in ground balls and forced the Griffins into 15 turnovers.
 
Griffin and Steve Brandenburg led the Mavericks with three goals apiece.
 
The Griffins will return to the road next weekend for two games. They play at Colorado College on April 13 in Colorado Springs, Colo.