OLYMPIA, Wash. – Southern Oregon's four-game winning streak has coincided with an uptick in production from
Madison Childers,
Michala Denn and
Misty Martinez, and the trio delivered again on Friday as the Raiders pocketed a 5-0 victory at Evergreen (Wash.).
After tallying her second and third goals of the season in SOU's most recent outing, Martinez went for two more by striking in the 14th and 15th minutes to give the Raiders (9-5-2 overall, 6-3-2 Cascade Conference) a 2-0 lead. They cruised from there, doing all of their scoring before halftime, and stayed in fifth place going into Saturday's regular-season finale at Northwest (Wash.).
Aislinn Waite and
Ruth Hegstad were credited with assists on Martinez's goals, which gave her 13 in her three-year career. In the 31st minute,
Mia Santander set up
Kaya Baird for her third goal of the season.
SOU's next two were unassisted: Denn tallied her third goal in SOU's last four games in the 40th minute, and Childers registered points for the fourth game in a row by depositing her fifth goal in the 41st.
Raider keeper
Jessie Selby got her fifth shutout – and SOU's fourth straight – by making all six of her saves in the second half.
SOU finished with a 16-10 edge in shots.
Over its last three games, SOU has scored 11 first-half goals.
The Raiders – who have already clinched a spot in the eight-team CCC Championships presented by U.S. Bank, to be held Nov. 12-15 in Springfield – can secure the No. 5 seed with a win and would finish no lower than sixth with a point at Northwest. They lead sixth-place Corban by one point and seventh-place College of Idaho by three in the standings.
Northwest, ranked 25th in the latest NAIA coaches' poll, dropped to second place with Friday's 4-3, double-overtime loss to the new first-place team, Oregon Tech.