MEN'S CCC TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY U.S. BANK
Monday – Quarterfinals
(1) Southern Oregon 5, (8) Corban 0
(2) Warner Pacific 4, (7) Providence 1
(3) College of Idaho 2, (6) Evergreen 0
(5) Oregon Tech 3, (4) Carroll 1 (OT)
Wednesday – Semifinals
Southern Oregon 4, Oregon Tech 2
College of Idaho 1, Warner Pacific 1 (PKs: CI 5, WPU 4)
Friday – Championship
12 p.m. – Southern Oregon vs. College of Idaho

SPRINGFIELD – With one last shot at their rivals, Alan Gaytan and Adrian Villegas, the top goal-scorers in Southern Oregon history, did not miss Wednesday evening at Les Schwab Sports Park.

The senior duo's individual brilliance was on full display in a 4-2 semifinal win over Oregon Tech that advanced SOU to the title game of the Cascade Conference Championships presented by U.S. Bank for the first time in in five years. Gaytan and Villegas scored two goals apiece – one in the first half, and one in the second to swing what had been a 2-2 game – as the No. 20-ranked Raiders took their team-record winning streak to 11 games and their record to 18-2.

They'll have an opportunity to atone for their only CCC loss against No. 3 seed College of Idaho, which got through its semifinal in penalty kicks against Warner Pacific. The final is set for noon Friday.

"Credit to OIT for bringing a ton of energy and pressure tonight and making our job extremely difficult," SOU coach Davie Carmichael said. "It was a completely different game than earlier in the season and had a playoff feel from start to finish."

The No. 5-seeded Owls (11-5-3), who lost 3-0 on Oct. 20 at Raider Stadium, made sure of that by going up in the seventh minute when Dylan Nakagawa's corner kick got through the defense to the head of Cooper Hunt for the first goal.

Villegas answered in the 16th minute, taking Alex Hjulmand's pass from midfield and firing atop of the box. His strike flew over the shoulder of an Owls defender and hooked inside the right post, and six minutes later Gaytan followed his own knocked-around free kick into the box and charged through the defense to punch in with his left foot for the Raiders' first lead.

But the Owls – who hadn't surrendered a lead all season – struck back on a second set piece in the 28th minute, as another Nakagawa corner turned into an equalizing header for Brock Rideout.

A 39-minute scoring drought ensued. Villegas ended it with the game-winner in the 69th, when Josue Reyes felt pressured near the end line and passed back to him in space for an attempt on the right side that found a small window between Owls keeper Ryan Solis's left hand and the post.

Gaytan provided the insurance with a penalty kick in the 85th. It came after Simon Huebner's foot race with an Owls defender, which ended with a whistle after a bump sent Huebner to the ground in the corner of the box.

Casey Ruvolo made a pair of second-half saves to keep the Owls on two goals.

"I'm really proud of the battle from our team," Carmichael said. "We managed to weather the storm, came back from a deficit, and some individual brilliance in key moments got us over the line."

Gaytan and Villegas finished the night at 35 career goals each. They also tallied the Raiders' first two in their 5-0 quarterfinal victory over Corban.

Next – after being eliminated by penalty kicks in the semifinals each of their first three trips to the CCC Championships – they have a chance to deliver SOU's first tournament title since 2017.