SOU NOTES

ASHLAND, Ore. – Following last weekend's scoreless tie against No. 24 Westminster, Southern Oregon returns home this weekend to open the Cascade Collegiate Conference season with matches against Warner Pacific and Concordia (Ore.).

The Raiders, 3-4-1 this season, will host Warner Pacific at 1 p.m. on Saturday and Concordia at 2 p.m. on Monday at University Field.

“We were really pleased with how we finished the game out and we felt like we really had some good opportunities in overtime,” Clement said about the Westminster contest.

Southern Oregon will face perhaps its toughest test this season on Monday when Concordia comes to town. The Cavaliers, ranked fourth in the latest NAIA poll, own an impressive 15-year run of dominance in the CCC. Clement believes the Raiders' tough non-conference schedule will prepare SOU for a successful conference season.

“We've really put our team through the ringer and spent a lot of time on the road playing the most difficult teams we could find,” Clement said. “Our team has handled that really well, so I know that we're collectively very well prepared to play in a very difficult league this year.”

On Saturday, the Raiders host a Warner Pacific team that has played only two matches this season. The Knights are 1-0-1, with a 1-0 win over Lewis & Clark and a scoreless tie against Trinity Lutheran. Anna Blakeslee scored the Knights' lone goal of the season in the win over the Pioneers, and Nikita Rivera has played all 200 minutes in goal for WPC, making 14 saves without yielding a goal.

Southern Oregon is 8-3-2 all-time against Warner Pacific, including wins in each of their last two meetings after going 1-3-1 against the Knights from 2005 to 2008. Last season, Ashton Griffen (Duvall, Wash./Cedarcrest) and Kennedy Roteman (Yorba Linda, Calif./Esperanza) each scored first-half goals as the Raiders won 2-0 in Portland.

Concordia enters the weekend 5-3-1, with a pair of losses against teams currently ranked in the NAIA top five. As a team, the Cavaliers lead the CCC in shots (127), corner kicks (45) and shutouts (4), and CU returns three NAIA All-American performers from last year's No. 1-ranked squad. On Monday, SOU will be looking for its first win against Concordia since the 2001 season, when the Raiders defeated the Cavs for the only time in program history.

Southern Oregon has outscored its opponents 13-9 this season, including an 8-5 advantage in the second half. The Raiders have outshot opponents 73-27 in the second period and overtime. Stephanie Carr (Upland, Calif./Upland) leads the team with five goals, and Jacquie Galvez (Temecula, Calif./Temecula Valley) has added a pair of scores for SOU. Senior goalkeeper Jessica Kuehlwein (Oregon City, Ore./Oregon City) has played more than 715 minutes in goal for the Raiders, giving up eight goals while making 29 saves for a .784 save percentage.