ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon University soccer team successfully infuriated plenty of nonleague opponents over the last six weeks. With Cascade Conference play finally here, the Raiders have no plans to get any nicer.

SOU (4-2-2 overall) is riding a three-match shutout streak and has five total heading into its CCC opener at 3 p.m. Thursday against Northwest Christian (2-6-0) at University Field. On Saturday, the Raiders will kick off an SOU sports tripleheader with a 10 a.m. showdown against Corban (4-4-1).

The Raiders – picked third in the CCC preseason poll behind 13-time defending champ Concordia and Northwest University – have posted winning conference records the last six seasons and went 5-2-2 in 2012.

"It feels like we've been waiting forever so we're totally ready to get going," senior captain Alyssa Bricker (Temecula, Calif./Temecula Valley) said of the Raiders, who opened the season back on Aug. 21. "We've had plenty of time to prepare and I think we made the most of it."

Bricker earned the conference's defense player of the week title while junior forward Chloe Welch (Petaluma, Calif./Casa Grande) was the offensive player of the week following Saturday's 3-0 triumph over Oregon Tech. The Raiders are allowing an average of 0.68 goals per game and scoring 2.0.

They also have a history of owning Northwest Christian, winning all seven meetings between the teams since they first played in 2006, including the last three by shutout. The Beacons will enter the match seventh in the conference in goals per game (1.0), eighth in shots per game (6.5) and last in goals allowed (2.38), though they've gotten on the board six times in their past four outings since being blanked in three of their first four. Lauren Schweitzer's two goals lead the team.

Corban, on the other hand, leads the all-time series with SOU 18-4-1 and picked up a 1-0 overtime win against the Raiders last year. Four of the last six matches between the teams have required an extra period.

The Warriors are coming off a 2-1 win against Northwest Christian and picked up two of their four losses on the same trip that the Raiders got both of theirs – at sixth-ranked Westmont and No. 12 The Master's. Senior forward Audrey Sullivan is second in the CCC in points with four goals and five assists, and her 3.89 shots per game are a sliver more than the 3.88 produced by SOU forward Sydney Paulsen (Loveland, Colo./Thompson Valley), who recorded her fifth goal of the season against Oregon Tech.

Corban has also gotten two goals and five assists out of senior Emily Boudreau and four goals from senior Tera Donahue.

"Both teams are going to be good challenges for us, and we kind of have a history of tough games with both of them," Bricker said. "It'll be fun to see where we're at."

While the Raider defense – led by a senior core of Bricker, Danielle Stave (Petaluma, Calif./St Vincent de Paul) and Sara Dutra (Hanford, Calif./San Joaquin Memorial) – is living up to expectations, the attack might be exceeding them. Utilizing a three-forward front, as opposed to the one-front they've traditionally adopted, the Raiders are getting off 18.1 shots per game, which is second in the CCC.

Lisa Elledge (Fair Oaks, Calif./Bella Vista), Kendra Madaras-Kelly (Boise, Idaho/Mountain View), Serena DeChristofaro (Martinez, Calif./Alhambra) and Bricker have two goals apiece to complement Paulsen's team-best total. Paige Kilpatrick (Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta Valley) and Welch both have two assists.

"The girls play with high effort all the time and are very organized," Raiders interim head coach Jenni Rosenberg said. "They're good at playing possession soccer and we'll try to keep taking advantage of that."

The Raiders have won each of their last three conference openers.

"Practice is really focused right now and there's lot of excitement in the air," Rosenberg said. "You can tell we're ready to go."