PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo closed out its 2024 men's lacrosse season here Sunday afternoon with a 24-7 setback to 17th-ranked Colorado Mesa in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action on Senior Day at ALG Stadium.
 
Prior to Sunday's game, the ThunderWolves honored its three seniors in pregame ceremony as this year's seniors were midfielder Kevin Gallagher (Castle Rock, Colo./Castle View), defender Paxton McConnell (Longview, Texas/Longview) and midfielder CJ Rowe (Indianapolis, Ind./Concordia-Chicago). Along with recognizing the Pack's three seniors, the Pack also recognized the 10-year history of the program.
 
With Sunday's setback, the Pack closes the 2024 campaign with a 2-12 overall record and finished 1-7 in the RMAC, while Colorado Mesa improved to 10-4 overall and 7-1 in the league. The win also helped the Mavericks share the regular season league title with Westminster and earn the No. 1 seed in next weekend's RMAC Tournament.
 
Sophomore midfielder Chris Easley (Southington, Conn./Weber) and sophomore attacker Kyle Parker (Hamilton, New Zealand/Northland College) combined to score five of the Pack's seven goals as Easley scored three and Parker added two to his season tally. Parker finished the season with 25 goals, which was second-most on the team and tied for seventh-most in a single season in program history. Easley's three goals pushed his season total to 15.
 
Sophomore attacker Andrew Dzubak (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Mount Saint Vincent) closes out his first and only season with the Pack with a team-best 26 goals and a team-best 18 assists for 44 points. His 26 goals are sixth-most in a single season in school history, while his 18 assists are tied for sixth best on the school's single season chart. He is now one of nine players in program history to record 40 or more points in a season and the first since Aryan Krause recorded 54 points in 2022.
 
The Pack kept the game close in the opening period as they held a 1-0 lead on a goal just 61 seconds into the game by sophomore midfielder Chris Easley (Southington, Conn./Weber), but CMU would score 11 of the next 12 goals to push out to an 11-2 lead midway through the second period. The Mavs led 7-2 after the first period.
 
After outscoring the Pack, 7-2, in the first period, the Mavericks outscored the Pack 5-2 in the second period to take a 12-4 lead at the half.
 
CMU would put the game out of reach in the second half as they outscored the Pack, 12-3, including a 7-1 scoring flurry in the third period to give the Mavs a 19-5 lead heading into the final period.
 
The Pack were outshot in Sunday's game, 62-17 as Parker led the way with five shots, while Dzubak added four shots. The Pack put 11 of their 17 shots on goal in the game. Dzubak finished the season with 101 shots, which was just two shy of the school's single season mark of 103 shots set by Anthony Ferrie in 2019.
 
CSU Pueblo collected 35 ground balls and won 13 face-offs in the game as Easley led the way with a game-high tying and a career-high six ground balls, while sophomore midfielder Bryce Campbell (Meridian, Idaho/Meridan) was 7-for-15 on face-offs and sophomore midfielder Aaron Bell (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) was 6-for-15. Campbell finished the season with 100 face-off wins, which is third-most in a single season in program history. He is also one of just three Pack players to record 100 or more face-off wins in a season.
 
Rowe capped his career with a team-leading 52 ground balls this season, which is fourth-most in a single season in school history.
 
The Pack and CMU each had 13 clears in the game as the Pack was 13-for-20 and the Mavs were 13-for-17.
 
Defensively, the Pack was credited with 10 caused turnovers in the game as Parker and sophomore defender Tanner Barnard (Reno, Nev./Reno) each had two in the contest. The Pack finished the season with a single season school record 186 caused turnovers as freshman defender Logan Place (Aurora, Colo./Cherokee Trail) tallied a season single school record 24 caused turnovers.
 
Colorado Mesa got 24 goals from 15 different players as JJ Brummett totaled five goals to push his season total to 47. In addition to Brummett, Paden Chastain and Levi McCoy each had three goals. The Mavs also finished with 13 assists as Hunter Holcomb led the way with five assists and Micah Payton added three assists.
 
Eli Bibler had seven of CMU's 64 ground balls and Holcomb was credited with four of CMU's 21 caused turnovers.
 
Sophomore Connor Russell (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven) played three periods in goal and finished with five saves and one ground ball, while freshman goalie Cole Rutz (Palatine, Ill./Fremd) played one period and finished with a save in the loss.
 
The Mavs played two goalies in the game as Luke Parrish played the first three periods and allowed five goals and made four saves, while Mac Bayless played the fourth period and allowed two goals and did not record a save.