1 p.m. Friday – Evergreen (0-3) at SOU (4-0)
1 p.m. Saturday – Northwest (4-1) at SOU (4-0)
LIVE STATS | LIVE STREAMS | TICKETS

ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon University men's soccer team will take the program's best-ever start and put it on the line in Cascade Conference play, opening the circuit schedule on Friday and Saturday at Raider Stadium.

At 4-0, SOU will welcome in the 0-3 Evergreen State (Wash.) Geoducks followed by the 4-1 Northwest (Wash.) Eagles. Both games will start at 1 p.m. and mark the beginning of a stretch in which the Raiders will play five out of seven at home.

FAN POLICY: All fans 12 and older planning to attend are subject to SOU's new 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. All non-participants will also be required to wear masks regardless of vaccination status.

NAIA TOP 25: The second NAIA Top 25 coaches' poll of the regular season was released on Wednesday, showing Corban as the CCC's lone representative at No. 23. The Warriors have two losses, but they were taken against the current Nos. 4 and 12 teams in the poll. Rocky Mountain (Mont.) is receiving votes and just a couple spots removed from the last spot. The Raiders, vying for their first ranking since the 2019 preseason, will get a shot at Rocky on the road on Oct. 1 and play host to Corban on Oct. 24. In every full season since 2017, SOU, Rocky and Corban have occupied the top-three spots in the CCC standings.

BRIEFLY:

• Since Davie Carmichael became the head coach in 2018, the Raiders have posted a 24-3-3 combined record in conference play. They've outscored their opponents 82-13 in those games.
• The Raiders are unbeaten in 23 of their last 24 home games, having turned in 20 clean sheets during that stretch. Since going 3-3 at home during the team's inaugural season (2015), SOU is 30-4-3 at Raider Stadium.
• The Raiders have gone 12 straight regular season games without conceding multiple goals. They haven't lost a game in which they've scored multiple goals since Aug. 25, 2018.
• Alan Gaytan has scored a goal in three straight games. Dating back to his freshman year in 2019, he's tallied in 12 of SOU's last 19 regular season outings.
• The Raiders have an aggregate goals advantage of 10-2 this season and generated more than twice as many shots on goal (31) as their opponents (15). Keeper Liam Kalhagen has been credited with two shutouts and made nine saves while giving up two goals.
• Nine Raiders have recorded at least one point, led by Gaytan's seven (3 goals, 1 assist) and four apiece for Luis Navarrete (2 goals) and Joao de Santos (1 goal, 2 assists). Moises Hernandez also has multiple assists.
• A different Raider has accounted for the game-winning goal in all four of SOU's victories, as was the case in all four wins last spring. In 2019, each of the Raiders' first nine game-winners came from different scorers.

ABOUT EVERGREEN: The Geoducks have dropped all three of their games against NCAA Division III competition after opting out of last season. They went 6-7 in the CCC in 2019 under John Purtteman, who has been the head coach since 2006. Their top-four scorers from that team are gone, and Matthew Jordan enters the weekend with a team-high two goals. The Raiders are 2-1-2 in the series and haven't given up a goal against Evergreen since 2016.

ABOUT NORTHWEST: The Eagles are recovering from a spring season that saw them go 2-5-1 in conference play, though their games against SOU were canceled. They've played NCAA D3 competition exclusively and outscored their opponents 13-11. Elliot Misic leads the team with five goals and four assists and since debuting for the Eagles in 2019 owns 17 goals and 10 assists. SOU has won five straight meetings with NU, outscoring the Eagles 14-1 in those.