GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – In the first of two conference games this week against nationally ranked opponents, the Concordia University Irvine men's lacrosse team hung tough with No. 16 Colorado Mesa the entire first half.

CUI scored the first goal of the contest when Chad McFadden set up Drew Buckley for a 1-0 lead.

McFadden handed out another assist when he found Boston Rhees later in the period to tie the game at 2-2.

McFadden added another game-tying score himself in the second quarter to pull the game back into a 4-4 deadlock. That came about five minutes after Matt Carresi found the back of the net.

Little did the Golden Eagles know that would be the last times they celebrated a goal the rest of the way.

Unfortunately for the visitors, the Mavericks found another gear after intermission and clamped down on defense to pull away with 13 unanswered goals. CUI saw its three-game winning streak snapped by a score of 17-4.

Faceoff specialist Cade Poe won 60 percent of his draws in the X. He finished with 15 wins in 25 chances.

Bobby McCuskey and Jeremy Barnes each added one assist.

Daniel Yang collected 12 saves and played the majority of the game before giving way for freshman Wyatt Groeneveld in the last five minutes.

Concordia rounds out its three-game road trip at No. 18 Westminster on Sunday morning. Game time is set for a 10:00 a.m. PT start (11 a.m. local MT).

CLICK HERE for updated CUI men's lacrosse schedule