ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon women's soccer team got exactly what it needed to clinch the Cascade Conference's No. 2 seed on the final day of the regular season with a 3-0 defeat of Warner Pacific at Raider Stadium.
The Raiders (10-4-3 overall, 9-1-2 CCC) capped a blazing run into the postseason with their fourth consecutive victory and ninth shutout during an active 11-game unbeaten streak.
Phoebe Bunn,
Mia Santander and
Jessie Selby all shined on their senior day – Bunn with two assists, Santander with the go-ahead goal in the 10th minute, and Selby with her 200th career save and seventh shutout of the season.
The Raiders entered the day tied with College of Idaho for second place, but the three-goal win and clean sheet gave them possession of the tiebreaker no matter the outcome of C of I's final match tonight. They'll open the CCC Tournament on Nov. 7 in Springfield with a quarterfinal matchup against No. 7 seed Oregon Tech, which they fought to a scoreless draw earlier this season in Klamath Falls.
The Raiders are the No. 2 seed for the second year in a row, making this the first time they've finished top-two in the standings in consecutive seasons.
Northwest (Wash.) will be the top seed in the tournament and, by winning the regular-season title, has clinched the CCC's first automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament. The CCC Tournament champion will get the second bid, unless Northwest wins it, in which case it will go to the tourney runner-up.
After Bunn assisted Santander's goal with a perfect through-pass that led to a breakaway,
Malaika Quigley made it 2-0 three minutes into the second half by heading in Bunn's free kick.
Taytum Curtis added the final goal in the 89th minute.
The Knights, who tied Oregon Tech on Friday, needed a win to earn a playoff berth. They wrapped up at 6-9-3 overall and 3-7-2 in the CCC.