NAIA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP OPENING ROUND
No. 13 SOU (16-2-3) vs. UC Merced (13-4-2)
2 p.m. Saturday | Raider Stadium | Ashland, Oregon
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ASHLAND – One young men's soccer program will get its first taste of national postseason success when No. 13-seeded Southern Oregon hosts UC Merced (Calif.) in the NAIA Championship Opening Round at Raider Stadium.

Both teams have grown up fast to reach this point. The Bobcats (13-4-2), whose origins go back to 2013, have emerged as back-to-back champions in the California Pacific Conference. The Raiders (16-2-3) popped up two years later in the Cascade Conference and have also won consecutive regular-season titles, bringing with them the NAIA's longest active unbeaten streak (19 games) to the playoff.

SOU and Merced both qualified for the national postseason for the first time last year and were eliminated in the Opening Round – the Raiders at No. 8 Georgia Gwinnett, 3-2, and the Bobcats at No. 9 Vanguard (Calif.), 3-2 – but one will advance to the 16-team final site for the first time Saturday. Start time is set for 2 p.m.

WHAT'S NEXT: The national tournament is bracketed, and the final five rounds will be played at OC Great Park Soccer Stadium in Irvine, Calif., with one day off between every round except the semifinals and title game. The winner of the SOU-Merced matchup will play in the second round at 11 a.m. on Nov. 26 against the winner of an Opening Round game between No. 4-seeded Rio Grande (Ohio) (18-0-0) and Lawrence Tech (Mich.) (14-6-1). Rio Grande, the River States Conference champion, was the top-ranked team in the final NAIA Top 25 coaches' poll and is the nation's only team with a perfect record. Lawrence Tech got in by winning the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference tournament title.

SERIES HISTORY: SOU and Merced met for the first time this season on Sept. 8 at the Bobcats' home field. The Raiders escaped with a 1-0 victory, marking the first of their 14 shutouts and the last time the Bobcats were blanked. Renee Resendez assisted Mitchell Pinney's go-ahead goal in the 24th minute, but Merced had advantages in shots (16-8) and shots on goal (6-3). The shot total was the highest allowed by the Raiders in a game this season.

HOME HISTORY: The Raiders went 7-0-1 at home this year and are 13-0-1 over the last two seasons, outscoring opponents a combined 37-2 in those games. Over the last five seasons, host teams have gone a combined 57-18 in Opening Round games. Last year, hosts went 12-3.

HOW THE CCC HAS FARED: In the last decade, four Cascade Conference teams have advanced past the Opening Round: Corban in 2016, Rocky Mountain (Mont.) in '15, and Concordia in '08 and '12. The CCC has produced two quarterfinalists in the history of the conference: Rocky (2015) and Evergreen (Wash.) ('04). Rocky, after topping SOU in penalty kicks to capture the CCC Tournament title, will play an Opening Round game Saturday at No. 6-seeded Hastings (Neb.). Corban earned an at-large bid and, as the No. 15 seed, will host Arizona Christian.

BRIEFLY:

• In going 2-0-1 at the conference tournament, the Raiders set new team records for wins (16) and shutouts (14). In the latter category, they rank fourth nationally after ranking second last year with 12.
• SOU features this season's CCC Defensive Player of the Year, junior Michael Miller, and the 2017 co-Defensive Player of the Year, junior goalkeeper Wyatt Zabinski, who ranks second in the NAIA in average goals against (0.4) and topped the CCC in save percentage (.866). The back line – which has yielded three shots on goal or fewer in 14 of the last 17 games – will also get a boost with the return of junior all-star Gonzalo Garcia, who missed the conference tourney due to injury.
• In a 4-0 CCC semifinal win over Carroll (Mont.), Renee Resendez became the 11th different Raider this year to tally a game-winner and Alejandro Velasquez became the 19th Raider to score a goal. Last year, seven different Raiders had game-winners.
• The 72nd-minute equalizer Rocky scored in the CCC championship was the only one SOU allowed in 16 games against conference foes.
• Noah Addie is SOU's points leader with 10 goals and one assist, having set the SOU freshman record for points. Omar Magana enters the match with 21 career goals, Mitchell Pinney with 16 and Brendan Allen 14, making them the highest goal-scorers in team history.
• Six Raiders have recorded at least four assists: Zac Hansen (7), Luis Aguilar (5), Garcia (5), Pinney (5), Yan Pessoa de Oliveira (5) and Resendez (4).
• The Raiders have a shots-on-goal percentage of .527 compared to their opponents' .389 clip.

ABOUT UC MERCED:

• The Bobcats were eliminated in the semifinal round of the Cal Pac Tournament by Embry-Riddle (Ariz.), 2-1. Prior to that loss, they'd won 10 straight by an aggregate score of 65-7 and finished 10-0-1 in the Cal Pac regular season.
• Senior forward Artemio Contreras will be a marked man, bringing with him 48 career goals and 29 assists. He's recorded 17 goals and 11 assists this season, ranking 14th nationally in total points, and the Bobcats are 11-1-1 when he tallies.
• As a team, Merced was No. 2 in the NAIA in shots on goal per game (12.8). Sophomore Marcus DeCouto (13 goals, 8 assists) was an All-Cal Pac selection and Juan Flores (8 goals, 11 assists) ranks seventh nationally in assists per game (0.7).
• Merced's features an all-underclassmen back line featuring three freshmen and the Cal Pac Defensive Player of the Year, sophomore Ricky Rosas. Goalkeeper David Hernandez has collected 37 saves and allowed 15 goals.
• Albert Martins has been Merced's head coach since the team's inception in 2013. He spent his playing days at Stanislaus State (Calif.).