The NOC Mavericks kicked off the season with a conference game on a scorching hot day in Tonkawa winning 3-2 in Overtime.   Eastern Oklahoma State College was the opponent on a day where the heat index was nearing 110 degrees. 

Northern started the game well, but the Mountaineer defense was up to the task keeping the Mavs out of the net.  It was Eastern that would score first off of a turnover by a Maverick defender.  The Mountaineers quickly broke into the Mavs penalty box before beating Northern goalkeeper Jordan Webster with a shot. 

Northern would get the equalizer late in the first half.  Lexi Albright intercepted a pass, played the ball to Cory Torres.  Torres played back to Maria Perez.  Perez found Josie Jarvis racing down the right side.  Jarvis crossed the ball back into Torres, who redirected the ball nicely into the far post. 

The Mavericks took the lead early in the second half.  Samantha Mendez won a long ball played out of the back by the Mountaineers.  The Mavs put three passes together before Josie Jarvis found Milica Bulatovic in the box.  Bulatovic blasted a shot into the far corner of the goal past the Eastern goalkeeper.  

Late in the game Eastern would tie the game off a long shot after the Mavs failed to clear the ball out of the back.  The shot just cleared the finger tips of Webster and snuck under the bar to send the game into overtime.

Northern controlled most of the play in overtime, but were not able to beat the Eastern goalkeeper, who had a great game.  It seemed like the game was headed to a second overtime until the Mavs got a corner kick with under thirty seconds left on the clock.  Janet Moreno put an excellent cross in the box that Bulatovic headed past the Eastern goalkeeper for the winner with just three seconds remaining.

"What a game," said coach Michael DuRoy.  "We played well.  Eastern showed a ton of heart playing with a limited roster in that heat.  It was a fun game to watch." 

"Our outside backs were amazing," he added.   "Heidi Wiedmeier was really solid.  Josie Jarvis was up and down the line all game.  I don't know how she did it in that heat.  She is from England too, so she hasn't ever seen anything like this.  She was by far our best player on the day.  I couldn't be more proud of her." 

"Overall it was a good first game," he said.  "We did some things well, and got exposed on some things.  We will recover on Monday, watch some film, and work on some things on Tuesday to get ready for a great team coming in on Wednesday." 

Northern will host Butler Community College on Wednesday at 4 p.m.  The Grizzlies are ranked in the top twenty and coming off of a national tournament appearance in the spring.