11 a.m. Tuesday – SOU at Life Pacific | Live Stats | Live Stream
7 p.m. Thursday – SOU at Hope International | Live Stats | Live Stream

ASHLAND – Given the pieces in place and the Southern Oregon University men's soccer team's track record under head coach Davie Carmichael, the Raiders will be hard-pressed to accept anything less than a return to the NAIA National Tournament this fall.

That's where the bar is set for a program that has cemented itself as a perennial Cascade Conference powerhouse, though a disagreeable round of CCC Tournament penalty kicks stopped SOU short of the goal following another routinely dominant regular season in 2021. Twenty-two players are back from that team, which finished 15-3-1 overall and 10-3 in the CCC, bringing the Raiders' conference record to 34-6-3 since Carmichael took over four years ago.

The returning group includes three individuals – seniors Noah Addie, Izaiha Bruce and three-time all-conference defender Zak Woolley – who were around for the Raiders' last national tournament appearance in 2018. Forward Alan Gaytan and midfielder Adrian Villegas, both juniors who have received NAIA All-America honorable mention nods, are set to begin their fourth seasons. And, as usual, Carmichael jolted the roster with a slew of newcomers expected to make an immediate impact.

"We have a really good balance, depth in every position and guys who can play a lot of different ways, which gives us the ability to adapt and be flexible," Carmichael said. "Now it's a matter of who's going to compete for starting jobs and how many guys are going to earn spots in the rotation before the start of conference season. We just need to see them in minutes that matter to know where we stand."

PRESEASON POLLS: The CCC is expected to be more widely-contested than ever, which the circuit's head coaches demonstrated by giving six different teams first-place votes in their preseason poll. The Raiders will open as co-favorites with Warner Pacific (last year's co-champion with Oregon Tech) and have finished no lower than third in the standings each of the last five full seasons. They're also receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 preseason poll along with WPU and OIT. The last time they appeared in the Top 25 was 2019, when they debuted at No. 13.

FIRST UP: The Raiders will play four of their five non-conference games outside of Ashland, starting with a road trip to California this week. At 11 a.m. Tuesday, they'll face a Life Pacific (Calif.) squad that is coming off a "gap year" (as explained by the team's official website) and operating under a first-year head coach. They'll visit Hope International (Calif.) at 7 p.m. Thursday, testing themselves against a Lions team that went 11-3-1 in 2021 and was picked to finish sixth in the Golden State Athletic Conference. After another two-game trip to Arizona, SOU will be at Raider Stadium for the first time to play Menlo (Calif.) on Sept. 10.

LAST SEASON: Two stunning slip-ups were all it took to foil SOU's conference title hopes in 2021. After starting with eight consecutive wins, the Raiders lost to a pair of sub-.500 teams, Providence (Mont.) and Carroll (Mont.), in a span of three games. They recovered to win five of their last six in the regular season and knocked off Rocky Mountain (Mont.) in the quarterfinal round of the CCC Tournament, but they were eliminated in penalty kicks for the third consecutive postseason in the semifinals against Oregon Tech. The regular season losses ultimately cost them an at-large national tournament bid, and the PKs cost them an automatic pass. Spoiled was a campaign in which they doubled up their opponents in both goals (41-20) and shots on goal (146-71). They finished with the second-best winning percentage (.816) in team history.

POSITION BY POSITION:
FORWARDS: If there was any doubt about his standing as one of the most adept goal-scorers in the region, Alan Gaytan extinguished it during a 10-goal sophomore season while leading the conference in CCC game-winners with four. He's up to two all-conference honors, 19 goals and six assists over 41 all-time appearances, and will be counted on for another monster season as a junior. The Raiders have a similarly proven striker next to him in 6-foot-2 Portland product Noah Addie, a senior with 19 goals and four assists to his name.

Sam Walker, a junior from Scotland, adds more starting experience with nine goals and eight assists in his career, and physical sophomore Evan Norconk provides a diffent look after appearing in every game and finding the net three times last year. Two transfers also project to be factors: Bryan Millan, who scored 21 goals at Modesto C.C. and Fresno C.C., and Alexander Ström, a native of Sweden who totaled six goals and nine assists at Butte C.C.

"We're very comfortable with that group," Carmichael said. "It's nice to have so many guys who we've seen get it done before, and they should be set up to have pretty big seasons."

MIDFIELDERS: An injury has kept Adrian Villegas off the field to this point, but his return is imminent and with it comes a crafty, two-time all-conference playmaker who has tallied 14 goals and 12 assists at SOU – and is just two years removed from the greatest statistical season ever at SOU (10 goals, 11 assists). Izaiha Bruce, a senior 50 games into his Raider career, will get a chance to become a full-time starter with the ability to defend and be an attacking threat. He recorded three goals and two assists in 2021.

Sophomore Sky Charley-Bolyard, junior Robby Running and senior Kevin Nevinger are more midfielder-hybrids who were regulars last year. Junior transfers Omar Ramirez, a two-time all-star at Folsom Lake C.C., and Jeong Kang, an all-star at Peninsula C.C., are new to the rotation.

"I'm excited about the entire midfield, just the abundance of different types of players who can affect the game in a lot of ways," Carmichael said.

DEFENDERS: Since his arrival in 2018, Zak Woolley has contributed in 60 games and started all but four of them. That those numbers will keep rising is a luxury for the Raiders, who will rely on him as captain and anchor of the backfield again after his third selection to the all-conference team. In addition to his defensive prowess, the 6-3 Hawaiian is also a threat in the box, where he has amassed nine goals and five assists. He'll play alongside another defender who started every game last season – sophomore New Zealand native Brad Thomas – and helped the Raiders limit conference opponents to an average of less than one goal per game.

Senior Carlos Diaz is returning starter at outside back. Playing opposite of him, Carmichael added junior transfer Tybalt Thornberry, who started 12 games last year at Montana State-Billings. Junior Josue Reyes – who began his collegiate career at SOU in 2016 before injuries took him to Rogue C.C., where he was twice named an All-Northwest Athletic Conference performer – is expected to eventually become a major contributor.

"It's a really good veteran group on the back line," Carmichael said. "We're lucky to have the guys we do in the center, and I think the outside backs have the potential to be dynamic."

GOALKEEPERS: Anthony Armenta didn't become SOU's starter last year until the CCC Tournament, but he has an opportunity now to earn a larger role as the team's only returning keeper. He's competing with Casey Ruvolo, a freshman from Arizona who is a product of the MLS Next academy and the step-brother of former Raider all-star Wyatt Zabinski.

"Nothing is guaranteed there, so we'll have to see how it plays out," Carmichael said. "They have a lot of similarities – both play the ball well with their feet and are good shot-stoppers."