RAIDER STADIUM | ASHLAND, OREGON
2:30 p.m. Friday – Multnomah at SOU | Live Stats | Stream
2:30 p.m. Saturday – No. 19 Warner Pacific at SOU | Live Stats | Stream

ASHLAND – On the final weekend of the regular season, the Southern Oregon men's soccer team has an opportunity to take down one more giant and set the tone for what the Raiders hope will be an extended postseason run.

The Raiders (11-5 overall, 8-3 CCC), winners of eight of their last nine, play Multnomah (7-8-1, 4-7) on Friday and 19th-ranked Warner Pacific (16-0, 11-0) on Saturday in their final home appearances. Both matches start at 2:30 p.m. at Raider Stadium. SOU, fresh off a 1-0 upset at then-No. 23 Corban, is unbeaten in its last four regular-season matchups with nationally-ranked opponents, but no one has taken a point from WPU yet as the Knights attempt to complete their conference title defense.

PLAYOFF PICTURE: The Raiders last week clinched a spot in the eight-team CCC Tournament but can still land anywhere between the Nos. 2 and 6 seeds. The field will be finalized on Saturday night, and the quarterfinals (Nov. 7) and semifinals (Nov. 9) will be held at Les Schwab Sports Park in Springfield before the championship (Nov. 11) moves to Civic Park in Eugene. WPU – which visits second-place Oregon Tech on Friday before coming to Ashland – can lock up the top seed with a tie at OIT or two total points on the weekend, which would also give the Knights the CCC's first automatic bid for the 40-team NAIA Championships Opening Round. The tournament champion will receive the second bid unless the same team wins both titles, in which case the other bid goes to the tourney runner-up. SOU will be attempting to get into the national playoff field for the first time since 2018.

NAIA TOP 25: Warner Pacific moved up one spot to No. 19 in this week's NAIA coaches' poll, while Corban dropped two spots to No. 25 after losing to SOU and tying Oregon Tech. OIT is receiving votes.

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW: Alan Gaytan, Adrian Villegas and Sam Walker scored in SOU's 3-1 win Friday at Bushnell, where the Beacons' only goal came via penalty kick. The Raiders remained unbeaten in 10 all-time matchups with BU, then stayed unbeaten in their last five games against Corban with a 1-0 victory Saturday in Salem. Bryan Millan assisted Evan Norconk for the lone goal in the 78th minute, and Anthony Armenta made six saves to preserve the shutout.

BRIEFLY:

• Adrian Villegas became the third member of SOU's 20-goal club over the weekend and has now tallied five times in conference play, including four times in his last five outings. Alan Gaytan – SOU's all-time goals leader with 26 – has five goals in the Raiders' last five games and ranks sixth among CCC players with 16 points (6 goals, 4 assists) in conference play.
• Evan Norconk's game-winner at Corban made him the fifth Raider with at least five goals. Sam Walker leads the team with nine goals; only three players in team history have scored 10 in a season.
• Anthony Armenta, the CCC Defensive Player of the Week, has been in goal for four consecutive shutouts, making 10 saves combined in those matches. He owns a 5-0 keeper record in CCC play.
• The Raiders are averaging 10.3 shots on goal per game and giving up just 3.6. During their 8-1 stretch, they've outscored opponents 26-6 and shut out six of them despite being without Zak Woolley, their three-time All-CCC senior defender.
• SOU is 33-4-1 at Raider Stadium over the last five years. The team had blanked six consecutive road foes before its 3-1 loss to College of Idaho two weeks ago.

ABOUT MULTNOMAH: The Lions had lost 38 consecutive conference games entering this season, but have put together a respectable campaign thanks in large part to the addition of Michael Appiah – a junior transfer who has recorded 16 goals and six assists. They've outscored opponents 35-31 but lost four of their last five games. SOU is 6-0 in the head-to-head series with an aggregate 23-2 goals advantage.

ABOUT WARNER PACIFIC: The Knights have replaced 2021 CCC Player of the Year Arturo Bahena with a star freshman, Andrew Martinez, who is on his way to claiming the honor with NAIA-leading totals in goals (26) and points (59). He's accounted for 10 of the team's game-winning goals and the Knights' defense has given up just six all season with keeper Alexis Calderilla posting a save percentage of .857. WPU dominated last year's matchup with SOU in Portland, 4-1, but the Raiders had won the last four and are 5-3 in the series.