WILBURTON, Oklahoma -- Northern fell to 0-2 in conference with a road loss at Eastern 2-1. 

The Mountaineers started fast with two early goals and held on for the win.  The first goal came on a set play just minutes into the game.  Eastern played a ball into the box that was easily tapped in by an unmarked Mountaineer.  Moments later Eastern would extend their lead to two on a penalty kick after a Northern midfielder brought down a Mountaineer in the penalty box resulting in a penalty kick.  The Mountaineers converted the penalty kick to take an early 2-0 lead. 

The second half was more of the same with Eastern controlling possession, but the Mavs were able to keep them from scoring.  The Mavericks come back attempt was not helped by Eli Little receiving his second yellow card forcing Northern to play a man short for the majority of the second half.  Coincidentally, Northern played much better from that point on creating several chances forcing the majority of the play on the Eastern half of the field.  Jaron Frye made the game interesting when he chipped the ball over the goalkeeper's head and into the goal with seven minutes to play.  Northern had several chances after that, but could not find the equalizer.

"So far almost all of our games have looked the same," said coach Michael DuRoy.  "We play hard for the most part, but make mistakes that cost us the game.  I don't want to take anything away from Eastern.  They were by far the better team today and deserved to win, but we can't help teams out.  Our marking on their first goal was horrible.  We don't have an elaborate scheme for marking set plays.  Each player matches up with an opponent and should stay with their match up until the ball is played out.  We had at least three guys just release their mark on the kick.  The second goal came on a penalty kick after a slide tackle foul in the box.  We teach our players to not slide in the box.  So basic mistakes cost us two goals, and you can not do that against teams that are more talented than you.  We still have a long way to go in the season.  I'm confident that the boys will bounce back, and we will be more competitive in late October." 

NOC (1-3) hosts Crowder Sunday at 4 p.m. in a oon-conference match.