By: SOU Sports Information
11 a.m. Sunday – Corban (9-5, 8-3) at SOU (12-2, 8-2)
LIVE STATS | LIVE STREAM | TICKETS
ASHLAND – After accepting a forfeit win on Friday due to COVID-19 issues within Bushnell's program, the Southern Oregon men's soccer team will play its last home game of the season at 11 a.m. Sunday against Corban with an opportunity to clinch a top-three seed in the Cascade Conference.
The matchup between SOU (12-2 overall, 8-2 CCC) and Corban (9-5, 8-3) is among the circuit's most anticipated annually – one or both of the teams has won or shared the regular-season championship every season since 2016 – and this year is no different. But the Warriors' title hopes took a major blow with Friday's 2-1 loss at Oregon Tech as the Owls held on to first place at 9-1 and still haven't lost except at SOU. Warner Pacific sits in second place at 8-1-1, but the Knights will have to face both SOU and OIT next week as the regular season concludes.
FAN POLICY: All fans 12 and older planning to attend are subject to
SOU's vaccination policy, which requires proof of full vaccination against Covid-19 or a negative test taken no more than 48 hours prior to entry. Photo ID must be presented for verification. Per state mandate, non-participants will also be required to wear masks regardless of vaccination status.
POLL WATCH: The Raiders are no longer receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 coaches' poll; Oregon Tech is the CCC's only representative in the poll at No. 24, while Corban is receiving votes at No. 34 overall. In this week's latest Modified RPI rankings – which are used to determine at-large bids to the 40-team NAIA National Tournament – Oregon Tech is No. 30, SOU is No. 38 and Corban is No. 43. The Raiders will try to avoid the at-large route, however: they can clinch an automatic bid for the national tournament by winning the CCC's regular season or tournament championship.
LAST WEEK IN REVIEW: The Raiders picked an ideal time to post back-to-back shutouts in conference play for the first time last week on the road. On Friday,
Izaiha Bruce assisted
Noah Addie in the 31st minute and
Renee Resendez assisted
Moises Hernandez with a free kick in the 80th to give them a 2-0 win against College of Idaho. A day later, they defeated Eastern Oregon 1-0 on
Alan Gaytan's 11th-minute goal on an assist from Hernandez. They also held the Mountaineers without a single shot, keeping them winless against SOU in seven all-time matchups.
BRIEFLY:
- The Raiders have scored the deciding goal in the 74th minute or later in four of their CCC victories. They've had to come from behind in three of them.
- Alan Gaytan's goal at EOU was his team-leading eighth of the season and his fourth game-winner. He's tied for fourth on the CCC goals leaderboard and is one game-winner away from matching Brendan Allen's SOU single-season record, established in 2015. With 17 total goals since debuting in 2019, he's four away from Carlos Magana's Raider career record. SOU's single-season record, set by Adrian Villegas in 2019, is 11.
- Joao de Santos is one of 10 players in the conference with at least four assists, and one of seven with at least three game-winning goals.
- Liam Kalhagen's save percentage of .738 is the ninth-best among CCC keepers. SOU's shutouts last weekend were the sixth and seventh he's been credited with since last spring.
- Since Davie Carmichael took over as head coach in 2018, the Raiders are 24-3-1 at home. Overall, Carmichael has led the Raiders to a 46-11-5 record and a 32-5-3 mark in conference play.
- SOU had outshot its opponents in 27 consecutive games until last Friday, when College of Idaho posted a 14-12 advantage but still didn't manage a goal.
ABOUT CORBAN: The Raiders and Warriors haven't met since 2019, and their last two matchups ended in draws. The Raiders are 1-3-2 overall in the series, notching their win in the 2017 CCC Tournament championship game. Alvaro Arche (4 goals, 5 assists) and Alexis Luna (5 goals, 1 assist) are the leaders in points for the Warriors, who have outscored their opponents 31-15 overall and 27-9 in conference play. Their keeper, Justin Keegan, has a .750 save percentage and is allowing 1.15 goals per game.