NAMPA, Idaho – When Grant Larson walked off the NNU soccer field on Nov. 16, 2019, he had no idea it would be the last time he'd wear his jersey.

The Northwest Nazarene senior was expecting to play in the fall of 2020, but when fall sports were moved to the spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic he was left with a tough decision to make.

Larson, like a handful of fall sports athletes, had planned to graduate at the semester break. Now, he had to try to decide if he should pursue a Master's or change his class schedule to take an extra semester.

"It's tough coming to the realization that you are not going to have another competitive game under your belt," Larson said. "It just kind of ends right there. The key with that, though, was keeping my head up and knowing that I had the opportunity to practice with the team and finish out that way."

The criminal justice major decided to keep his plans to graduate early in place and pursue a job in the juvenile probation system near his home in Port Orchard, Wash.

"Grant was one of the first calls I made after we found out the news," said NNU men's soccer coach Adam Pearce about sports getting pushed back. "He'd gone through a coaching change and now all of a sudden he's looking at not having a final season. I felt really bad for him."

Larson was one of three athletes who were forced to choose how to approach the potential for a spring season.

Women's soccer star Rikki Myers had planned to take spring semester off and then pursue a Master's in Education at a school in Washington, but plans changed when soccer was moved.

"I am immensely grateful for all of the effort NNU has put into keeping students on campus and healthy," she said. "The fall has still been a bit tough, though, because we didn't have any games to look forward to."

Fellow senior Jade Zimmer also will be pursuing her Master's this spring in hopes of getting a season in.

For Larson, the decision came down partly to money and partly the desire to find a job. He did Running Start – a program in Washington that allows you to take concurrent high school classes and college credits – which helped him enter NNU as a junior academically.

While Larson didn't get to play any games this fall, he was still a part of the program. He still came to practice, weights and conditioning like every other player on the team.

"I told him I still wanted him to be able to close out on his terms and still be a part of training because he still had something to offer the program," Pearce said. "On a personal level, I was so devastated for him because he was going to have a great senior season. He was playing like a senior who has been there and done that.

"I felt gutted that he wasn't going to get to put it on the field, but I was so grateful for the decision that he made and how he continued to impact the program."

Larson's career was a bit rocky, as he played for two coaches and the team struggled results wise. That said, he doesn't look back on his career with regret.

"The two seasons could've been better, but I'm proud to say I was a Nighthawk," he said. "I got to be in the building stage for the team and I was a part of that stepping stone to be a better team. I definitely think Adam is building a championship level team."