This man is possibly one of the best talents that Colorado Mesa University has seen in its men’s soccer program’s history.
Lawan Abary…a top tear athlete. One of, if not the best players in the RMAC. An athlete filled with drive and the desire to win. He’s the textbook definition of a stud, standing a towering 6’4” with dominating speed. Abary was built to score.
Last season Lawan was named First Team All-RMAC, D2CAA second team, made 2018 RMAC All-Tournament Team and United Coaches All-Region Second team. He also led the team 29 points that included a team-high 14 goals.
“He is one of the most dangerous players in the region,” Head Coach Andrew Canniff said.
“He just makes things easier. Now having him as someone I can use as apart of an attacking threat really has made my job a lot easier.”
This year is Conniff’s first year coaching here at CMU, but last year he was coaching against him at the South Dakota School of Mines. Rather than competing against him, the new head coach will be fortunate enough to have Lawan in his arsenal this season.
Abary came to CMU in 2018 as a transfer from Western Nebraska Community College. When he got to Grand Junction, his impact was felt almost immediately as he came in and scored six goals in his first three games.
“He’s rapid,” Canniff said. “Because of his 6’4 height matched with his stride, there’s not many players that can even keep up with him. He really does have a goal-scoring mentality at one of the hardest positions we have.”
Lawan will quite possibly lead the team in points and goals scored once again this season. Some are even predicting an All-American caliber season from the Niger native.
Something that often goes unmentioned is his ability to pass as well. Abary’s passing game is lethal and really frees him up for more scoring opportunities.
“I’ve seen Lawan have some very clever passes,” Conniff said. “This is only going to free him up more when getting down towards the end of the field.”
Taking that into account and his drive to succeed, things are shaping up well for Abary this year.
“I feel great and excited for this season,” Abary said, “Personally, my goal is to do more for my team than I did last year and lead my team to a championship.”
However, the first game of the year was not how the Mavericks wanted to get out of the gate as they got upsetted by Eastern New Mexico where Abary had three shots but nothing to show for it. The Mavericks were ranked No.17 in the country but a loss in the season opener isn’t the ideal situation to start a year that has so much promise.
“This year almost everything has changed, from the coaching staff to the players.”Abary said, “However, the way we play hasn’t, we still play to our standards which have been successful for years.”
Even though this team has gone through substantial changes in coaching and the brand new Director of Soccer Operations position that Todd Padgett is now in, the Mavericks are still looking as good as they were last year.
