2 p.m. Friday – Multnomah at SOU – Live Stream | Live Stats
11 a.m. Sunday – Walla Walla at SOU – Live Stream | Live Stats

ASHLAND – It was touch and go at times, but the Southern Oregon men's soccer team is alive and well after playing its first seven games of 2017 on the road.

Finally, coming off their first two wins in the opening weekend of Cascade Conference play, the Raiders (2-5 overall, 2-0 CCC) are set to debut at home. Visiting Raider Stadium will be the Multnomah Lions (1-4, 0-2) at 2 p.m. Friday, and the Walla Walla (Wash.) Wolves (0-4, 0-3) at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Both opponents represent an opportunity for the Raiders to fatten up their record. The Lions and Wolves became members of the CCC in 2015; since then, the Wolves are 0-29 and the Lions have only defeated the Wolves. They'll be the first opponents with losing records SOU has seen this year.

NAIA Top 25: Corban, which opened the conference schedule with wins at Evergreen and Northwest (and was one of four CCC teams to go 2-0 on the weekend), remained the CCC's highest-ranked team at No. 5 in the latest NAIA Top 25 poll. After a loss to SOU that was its first of the season, Rocky Mountain (Mont.) moved down four spots to No. 13. The Raiders' win at Rocky was their first ever against a top-25 opponent.

Player of the Week: Redshirt-sophomore Gonzalo Garcia represented SOU's back line as the Cascade Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Monday. The product of Stockton, Calif., helped the Raiders limit their opponents to a total of four shots on goal in wins by scores of 3-0 at Rocky and 2-1 at College of Idaho, and none of those shots occurred in the second halves. Garcia also assisted a Paul Matyas goal at C of I, marking the first point of his career.

Briefly:
– Dating back to their inaugural 2015 season, the Raiders have strung together an astounding nine-game road winning streak in CCC play. In conference games at Raider Stadium, they've gone 6-5-2.
– During their winless nonleague slate, the Raiders scored once on 25 shots on goal. In their CCC openers, they turned five of their 11 shots on goal into scores.
– Six different Raiders have one assist and six have one goal this season. Only freshman Renee Resendez and sophomore Kelly Gieber have one of each.
– Keeper Wyatt Zabinksi's improving play has shown in the box scores: The sophomore allowed 10 goals with 12 saves in the Raiders' first four games, but he's allowed two goals with 11 saves in their last three.
– The upset of Rocky Mountain marked SOU's first shutout of the season. Last year, the team had nine.

About Multnomah:
– The Raiders have won their only two matchups with the Lions, 6-0 in Ashland during the 2015 season and 3-0 last year in Portland. Brendan Allen scored a pair of goals in the first win, while Mitchell Pinney, Dakota Scott and Travis Hopkins tallied in the second.
– The Lions have been outscored 16-12, but seven of their goals came in a season-opening win at Pacific Union. They lost their CCC openers at home, 7-0 to Providence (Mont.) and 2-1 to Carroll (Mont.).
– Their points leaders are Hayden Smedley (4 goals, 1 assist) and Nicolas Mboungou (3 goals, 2 assists). They've already come a long way from their first year in the NAIA, 2015, when they were outscored 105-4.

About Walla Walla:
– The Wolves and Raiders have met twice: SOU won 5-1 in Ashland during the 2015 season and 11-0 last year in College Place, Wash. In last year's game, Dakota Scott recorded a hat trick in the first half and Carlos Magana scored all three of his goals in the second.
– The Wolves have been outshot 140-44 and outscored 28-2 through four games. Still on the hunt for their first-ever CCC win, they've dropped home games to Carroll (9-0), Providence (8-0) and Eastern Oregon (3-0).
– Zac Christensen is responsible for their goals, scoring both in a season-opening 8-2 loss to Linfield.