2 p.m. Thursday – No. 13 SOU at Menlo – Live Stats/Stream
11 a.m. Friday – No. 13 SOU vs. Pacific Union (at Menlo) – Live Stats/Stream

ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon University men's soccer team has known nothing but forward progress on a year-to-year basis. While becoming the first team in a decade to go through the Cascade Conference schedule unbeaten last year, the Raiders looked closer to being fully formed than a program just growing out of its infancy stages.

Their peers are duly aware. Owners of back-to-back championships, they're the CCC's preseason favorites for the first time. After collecting their first national tournament win last fall, they'll debut at No. 13 in the NAIA coaches' poll.

And yet despite the earned hype, the inevitably ramped-up expectations, the 23 returners and two CCC Defensive Players of the Year on his roster, second-year head coach Davie Carmichael is still prepared to display patience – a practice that has not been as necessary as anticipated when the team launched a mere four years ago.

"It's been interesting trying to piece things together, trying to play a little different style but understanding that success in the past has been in our toughness and resiliency," Carmichael said. "It's going to take time getting on the same page and building relationships with this mix of guys, but we're all learning together."

FIRST UP: The Raiders open this week with back-to-back games in Atherton, Calif., playing at 2 p.m. Thursday against host Menlo (Calif.) and at 11 a.m. Friday in a neutral-site game against Pacific Union (Calif.). Menlo is coming off a 13-5 season and a fourth-place standing in the Golden State Athletic Conference, while Pacific Union was at the bottom of the Cal Pac Conference at 1-14. SOU will make its Raider Stadium debut on Sept. 1 against UC Merced in a rematch of last year's NAIA National Tournament Opening Round, which ended in a 1-0 Raiders win in Ashland.

PRESEASON POLLS: The CCC coaches have pegged the usual suspects as the teams to beat again, with SOU, Rocky Mountain (Mont.) and Corban – which have occupied the top-three spots three years in a row – going first, second and third in the preseason poll. In the NAIA Top 25, SOU's No. 13 ranking matches it spot in last year's postseason poll when the Raiders were among the final 16 teams standing. Rocky, which appeared in the national quarterfinal round, is No. 8, and Corban is No. 16.

LAST YEAR: The Raiders started 2018 with back-to-back losses to Menlo and The Master's (Calif.) in which they were outscored 4-2, but promptly rolling into a 20-game unbeaten streak while outscoring opponents a combined 54-5. The streak spanned 1,865 minutes; they trailed for exactly 13 of those. Their 11-0-2 conference mark was celebrated with All-CCC kudos for seven individuals and coach-of-the-year honors for Carmichael, though their strength was the depth of the roster: In total, 19 different Raiders tallied, 11 netted game-winners and 21 earned at least one start. They dropped the CCC Tournament championship to Rocky in penalty kicks before taking an automatic bid to the NAIA Tournament, earning their first national postseason win 1-0 in overtime against Merced in front of a raucous Raider Stadium crowd. At the final site in Irvine, Calif., they bowed out with a 2-0 loss to Rio Grande (Ohio).

POSITION BY POSITION:
GOALKEEPERS: In his first season as the starter, Wyatt Zabinski anchored a 2017 Raider defense that produced 12 shutouts and was subsequently named the CCC Defensive Player of the Year. There was no dropoff in performance during the follow-up campaign, when the Raiders were No. 4 on the NAIA leaderboard with 15 shutouts and Zabinski ranked first in CCC save percentage (.847) and second in NAIA goals-allowed average (0.47), leading to more All-CCC and All-West Region accolades. He returns for his senior season, with sophomore Kendal James still in the mix and freshman Liam Kalhagen angling for back-up duties.

"Wyatt is just a commanding presence," Carmichael said. "It's a luxury to have him back there."

DEFENDERS: For two years, the most glaring difference between the Raiders and opponents on most days has been their unmatched physicality on the back line. Stability doesn't hurt either, with returning starters Gonzalo Garcia, Michael Miller, Yan Pessoa de Oliveira and Zak Woolley all back to reassume their positions after giving up a microscopic 2.3 shots on goal per game in conference action. Miller is the reigning CCC Defensive Player of the Year; Woolley was one of four underclassmen on the All-CCC team as a freshman; Garcia is a fourth-year starter; and Pessoa de Oliveira established himself as a versatile weapon with five goals and four assists as a junior transfer. Carmichael expects additional contributions from a pair of freshmen, Chris Downey and Stewart Curtis.

"There's a lot of cohesiveness and tightness within that group," Carmichael said. "They're some of our best leaders and the partnerships they've created make them very effective."

MIDFIELDERS: In compensating for some of the team's notable departures, Carmichael has moved one of his most reliable players, senior Kelly Gieber, from the back line to a full-time midfielder. Gieber, an honorable mention All-CCC pick the last two years, brings career totals of three goals and 13 assists into the season. Renee Resendez (2 goals, 4 assists in 2018) is another lineup regular going into his junior year, and senior Luis Aguilar is coming off a five-assist season. Alongside them, Carmichael is incorporating two more freshmen who have been groomed in the Timbers Academy: Alan Gaytan of Reynolds High and Hood River Valley's Adrian Villegas.

"They'll make us play a more attractive, possession-based style with their creativity and comfort with the ball," Carmichael said. "Villegas can make a massive impact right away and Gaytan is really special on the ball."

FORWARDS: Though balance was prevalent, Noah Addie turned into the Raiders' top scoring threat as a freshman with 10 goals and one assist with three game-winners on his way to the All-CCC team. Now a sophomore, he's complemented by senior Brendan Allen, who has 14 career goals to his name.

"Through the middle, those two are very different types of forwards but both very dangerous and good finishers with noses for the goal," Carmichael said.

They'll also depend on the creativity of Junior Rivas (3 goals, 1 assist) and an increased presence from Jared Delaney. The key addition is Sam Walker, a freshman who will be featured prominently as a right-winger after coming from Edinburgh, Scotland.