The Northern Oklahoma College men’s soccer team picked up their biggest win of the season Sunday with a 5-3 win over 15th ranked Murray State. The women tied Murray State 1-1 in two overtimes.
The Maverick men (4-9-2) improved to 3-4-1 in conference play while the women (6-7-2) are now 5-5-2 in conference action. Both teams are in 4th place in NJCAA Region 2 with two conference games remaining. The top four teams in Region 2 advance to the Region 2 Tournament Nov. 2-3.
Mavs Men 5, Murray 3
Northern has had a problem scoring goals all year until Murray State visited Tonkawa Sunday afternoon. The Mavericks scored early and often in their 5-3 win over the Aggies.
Gio Herrera set the tone for the scoring barrage with a goal just thirty-eight seconds into the game. Herrera stole the ball from a Murray State midfielder and launched a long shot that easily beat the Murray State goalkeeper. Northern would get another goal less than three minutes later when George Robinson headed in a cross from Kareem Williams.
Murray State would battle back and tie the game with goals in the 8th and 20th minute, but the Mavs struck again late in the half. Northern defender Gavin Reno scored with just two minutes remaining in the half to put the Mavericks up 3-2 at the break. Matthew Cuellar was credited with the assist.
Northern started the second half much the same as the first half with an early goal. Williams headed home a pass from Reno to put the Mavericks up by two goals just three minutes into the second half. Once again Murray State would answer with a goal one minute after William’s goal to make the score 4-3.
Ten minutes into the second half George Robinson took a ball into the penalty box that was eventually handled by a Murray State defender. Robinson calmly scored the ensuing penalty kick for the final goal of the game.
Murray State had the majority of the possession after Robinson’s goal, but solid defending and a few good saves by Northern goalkeeper, Euan Morrison, kept the score 5-3.
“I’m not sure that we played any better than we have all year,” said coach Michael Du-Roy. “We just finished our chances. Games come down to timely goal scoring and solid goalkeeping, and that is what we had today. We knew that playing Murray State this year we would be dealing with some ups ...
