MENA, Arkansas – Northern Oklahoma College split a pair of conference games at Rich Mountain (AR) on Thursday.The #11 Maverick women (10-1) improved to 8-1 in Region 2 play with a 2-0 win while the #19 Maverick men (8-3) lost 2-1. The Maverick men still lead Region 2 with a 6-1 record.Mavs’ Women 2, Rich Mountain 0Mia Yerian and Milica Bulatovic scored goals for the Mavs while Jaime Rowlands stopped two shots in earning the shut out.NOC outshot Rich Mountain 9-4.“We have hit that stretch in the season where players get tested,” said coach Michael DuRoy. “It’s been hot every day. We have been on the road a lot, and we are playing teams for the second time, so they are more prepared for what we do. Practice gets old for the players this time of year. We have to be focused and keep getting better, because that is what champions do. We have great leadership on this team, and all of the girls are bought in.”Rich Mountain 2, Maverick Men 1NOC lost its first conference game to Rich Mountain on Thursday despite outshooting the Bucks 16-11.Jaron Frye tallied the lone NOC goal in the second half.“This was a strange game,” said coach Michael DuRoy. “In some ways we played very well, and in others we were terrible. The most disappointing thing about this game is it exposed the same issues that we have had for two years. I have to find a way to get these guys to dig in and fight when things don’t go our way. To their credit they did after about ten minutes of poor effort in the second half. We are still in first place in the conference, but our issues are still present, and we are running out of time to fix them.”
