MANSFIELD, Texas (Sept. 23, 2026) - North Texas SC announced the recipients of the club’s 2026 End-of-Season Awards presented by Mansfield Fine Jewelry as determined by front office leadership:
Most Valuable Player: Edu Nys
Defensive Player of the Year: Slade Starnes
Golden Boot Winner: Edu Nys
The following award was determined by a fan-voted survey:
Fan Favorite: Edu Nys
Taking home the honor of 2026 NTSC’s Defensive Player of the Year is Captain Slade Starnes. Starnes started all 24 appearances in the backline, scoring two goals and recording two assists. His first pro goal sparked a 3-1 comeback win against Tacoma Defiance on Aug. 8. The Dallas, Texas native signed his Homegrown contract on FC Dallas’ Homegrown Day Jan. 5, 2026 after spending his senior year at Southern Methodist University.
He captained the Mustangs to their first ACC championship, earned tournament MVP honors and received United Soccer Coaches Second Team All-American recognition. He was also named a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist.
Starnes started his college career at Furman University, where from 2022-2025 he made 45 appearances, scored six goals and registered seven assists. He earned Second Team All-Southern Conference and First Team All-Southern Conference honors and served as team captain during his junior year.
Starnes joined the FC Dallas Academy with the U-17’s and later was named captain of the U-19’s under the head coach at the time, John Gall.
Taking home the triple crown of Most Valuable Player, Golden Boot, and Fan Favorite is midfielder Edouard “Edu” Nys. Nys made 28 appearances, scored a team-leading 10 goals, and registered 10 assists. The Belgian midfielder made his pro debut and scored his first pro goal against Real Monarchs on March 1. The following week, Nys would score his first pro career hat trick against Sporting Kansas City II on March 7 and earned MLS NEXT Pro Player of the Matchweek 2.
In July 2026, Nys carried the honor of representing MLS NEXT Pro and North Texas SC in the 2026 MLS Skills Challenge, presented by AT&T, becoming the only outfield player to do so in club history. He competed in the 2026 MLS Crossbar Challenge, presented by Gillette, and defeated Toluca FC’s defender Federico Pereira 3-1 in Round 1.
Nys signed with North Texas SC after being drafted No. 40 overall by FC Dallas in the 2026 MLS SuperDraft. Collegiately, Nys spent his senior season at the University of Illinois-Chicago and scored 16 goals and registered five assists in 18 matches, earning accolades like Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, MVC Forward of the Year, United Soccer Coaches All-West Region First Team and MVC Offensive Player of the Week four times in 2025.
He started his college career at NorthEast Community College. From 2023-24, he scored 48 goals and tallied 49 assists in 49 matches. In 2024, he led the NCC Red Hawks to their first NJCAA national title win in school history and was later named the Junior College Men’s DII Player of the Year.
