AURORA – Since 2021, the Northfield Nighthawks boys soccer team has been constructing a dynasty in Class 4A.
Over the last three seasons, Northfield has as many losses as it does state championships – two. Even in the season where they didn’t win the state title, the Nighthawks advanced all 
the way to the state championship final, before falling to Battle Mountain, 2-0.
Head coach Jason Keever is responsible for the burgeoning dynasty, and his job is only going to get harder now that his team is making the leap up to Class 5A. Nevertheless, Coach Keever is excited about the upcoming season and the challenge that awaits his squad.
“The move is going to be really fun. It’s going to be consistently challenging, and that’s great,” Keever said. “In past seasons, we’ve always played a good number of 5A teams, like four or five. Now, every game is going to be extremely competitive and that’s just great for the kids. There’s no opponent we can afford to overlook, and that’s a lot of fun, as a coach, but also for the players, too. They’re going to be tested a lot, which will only make the victories sweeter.”
“The energy is exciting, and we are all thrilled to be joining 5A,” senior student-athlete Seven Green echoed. “We are hungry 
and putting in the work both on and off the field every day to be able to compete in the top division in Colorado. We all want to leave something meaningful behind for the program, the underclassmen, and the school when we leave and see this as an opportunity to surprise a lot of people and establish our program at the top of Colorado.”
The challenge ahead of this Nighthawks team is twofold though. Not only will they have to grapple with the move up to a more difficult classification, but they will also have to manage the departure of a senior class that made up 40% of Northfield’s roster and owned eight of the starting spots.
“I don’t think it’s just as simple as replacing that experience. The only way to replace experience is with time,” Coach Keever reflected. “Those players and experiences are gone now, and that’s okay because now it’s time to find new experiences, form different bonds, and learn new lessons. The change isn’t necessarily bad. The 2021 team that won a state title was different from the 2020 team, and the 2022 team that went back-to-back was different than 2021. It’s never the same.
“Now, that can be exhausting for me – trying to figure out what makes each group tick isn’t easy. But I find it always comes back to the same things that have been the foundation for this program. It’s always about the players, and loving each other, being on a mission together, and being a family – both the challenges and the great things that come with that.”
The last two years of attrition have made it so that senior goalkeeper Zander Kosmas, who came to Northfield after spending time living in Thailand with his family, is the only member of the 2024 team to have played a large role for the last squad Nighthawks to win a state title.
Kosmas played the most minutes of anyone on Northfield, during the program’s 2022 championship campaign. No one else presently on the team played more than 19% of the team’s minutes during that run.
Now, he’s trying to pass on the championship culture that developed him into one of the Centennial State’s best goalkeepers to the next crop of Nighthawks.
“It’s just about commitment. High school soccer is a lot of time out of everybody’s day,” Kosmas acknowledged. “I think one thing that we’ve done really well since I’ve started with Northfield is just the consistency of setting the standard from the first day and making sure everybody knows what’s expected out of them. Everybody likes to win, but that takes work, so we all have set a common goal. We’re all on the same page about what we want this season, and that is what we’re going to work every day to achieve.”
Green, another senior leader on the team, feels much the same and underlined the program’s continued culture as a vital element to the team reaching its championship aspirations.
“Everyone needs to support one another and work as a team and as a group of brothers to reach our collective goals,” Green said. “The heart and bond we have on and off the field is what makes our program so strong and competitive. We have a very talented group of boys and the best coach I’ve ever played for. We need to make sure that we can all suffer and fight together when it matters most because that is how this program has gone so far and succeeded. Joining 5A is no exception to this expectation we have.”
So far, the new-look Nighthawks aren’t making any exceptions as they maintain the program’s elite standard. Through five games, they remain unbeaten in the new class, at 3-0-2, demonstrating the oft-mentioned challenges that they have prepared for.
Northfield will have until the end of the regular season, on Saturday, Oct. 26 to earn a playoff spot, in an attempt to reach their fourth-consecutive state championship final.
The Colorado High School Activities Association’s Boys Soccer State Championship Games will be played on Saturday, Nov. 16, at the Colorado Springs Switchbacks’ Weidner Field, in Colorado Springs.