The Northern Oklahoma College Mavs are ready to begin the 2021 season after a successful spring season that saw the Mavericks win the conference championship with a 9-2 record and ranked 8th in the nation before being upset in the NJCAA Region 2 semi-final.
Northern returns sixteen sophomores and has sixteen newcomers this fall with a #17 ranking. The Mavs have seven returning starters, and nine players that have started games in previous seasons.
“This is the most experienced team we have ever had at Northern,” said coach Michael Duroy. “We lost both of our starting central midfielders and one forward, but everyone else is back.”
Northern has a number of All-Region players returning including centerbacks Kai Lewis and Kareem Williams. All-Region forwards Damorney Hutchinson and Jesus Aleman return to lead the attack. Marcovich Brown, who led the conference in assists, is returning in the midfield. Outside backs Rahmon Oduborisa, Eventz Malaska, and Nathan Asiedu begin their third year of college soccer due to the NJCAA adding an additional year of eligibility for athletes due to COVID-19.
There are a host of talented incoming players that are looking to break into the lineup. Daniel Clarke is a tricky midfielder from Jamaica. Jaron Frye scored over one hundred goals in high school in Texas. His pace and technical ability will add to the Maverick attack. Leon Schmitter, Casey Clemo, and Harry Archer are battling returners Spencer Braswell and Nicolas Gutierrez for time in goal. Midfielders Jake Gadsen, Levi Egli, Dylan Gwyther, and Lewis Albert will have to step up in the midfield to replace All-Region central midfielders Gio Herrera and Brooks Rogers who have moved on to Oral Roberts University and Northeastern State University.
“It’s going to be an interesting year,” DuRoy said. “Covid is going to play a large part in the season. It hasn’t gone away. We have had four players test positive already and one other in quarantine from contact tracing. Most of our players are vaccinated and few others are going to get vaccinated soon, so that helps. It’s great having experience, but we can’t settle for what we accomplished last year. We need to get better every day. I think we have a chance to be good if we can get solid play in the midfield and consistent goal keeping. I really like where we are at every other position right now. We have some dangerous players up front and our ...
