ASHLAND – From the time they stepped in to lead the Southern Oregon men's soccer team in points as true freshmen in 2019, Alan Gaytan, Adrian Villegas and Sam Walker were easily identifiable as a core to reckon with moving forward.

The individual accolades have piled up in the years since. They stand as three of the top-four points producers in team history. They've done a lot of winning with head coach Davie Carmichael, too, but they've also learned the hard way how thin the margins are between really good and great in terms of team success. All three of their postseasons to date have ended on the wrong side of penalty kicks in the Cascade Conference Tournament semifinals, and despite career records of 52-14-5 with the Raiders, they've come up just short of NAIA National Tournament bids and continue to seek their first CCC championship trophy.

Entering their fifth year with the team, with 20 players and 10 starters back from the 2022 squad and a handful of key additions on board, this particular core is better equipped than ever to get over the hump – at least on paper. In practice, they'll need the consistency to avoid the blips on the radar that have previously foiled their plans.

"The level of experience and confidence is huge right now, and we know it can carry a team when things aren't going well," said Carmichael, whose teams in conference play have gone 43-9-4 while outscoring opponents 141-39 since he took over in 2018. "The young guys are going to bring some explosion and excitement to the group too, but it's just a matter of how fast we can feel each other out and find a rhythm."

PRESEASON POLLS: The Raiders have been consistent CCC title contenders since going back-to-back in 2017 and '18, and the expectation is they'll be in the mix again with five of 12 first-place votes going their way in the preseason coaches' poll. Warner Pacific, winner of the last two championships, took seven first-place votes as the favorite and was the only team ahead of SOU in the poll. (The Knights, however, have to replace the production of last year's top scorer in the NAIA: Andrew Martinez, who left the school after his freshman season to play professionally.) SOU also received votes in the NAIA Top 25 preseason poll, sitting at No. 38 overall. The Raiders last appeared in the NAIA Top 25 during the 2019 preseason.

FIRST UP: SOU plays its first counter at 7 p.m. Tuesday at NCAA Division III school Linfield, which went 5-13-1 last year with a 0-3 record against CCC teams. The game will be considered an exhibition for the Wildcats, and live stats and video will not be provided by the hosts. The Raiders are then scheduled to debut in Ashland at 2 p.m. Saturday against Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) in the second part of their five-game non-conference schedule. They open CCC play in Portland on Sept. 15-16 and play their first CCC games at Raider Stadium on Sept. 22-23 against Corban and Bushnell.

LAST YEAR: Though the Raiders went 13-5-2 overall in 2022, the numbers suggested they deserved a bit better. They had more than twice as many shots on goal as their opponents in three of those losses, including conference-opening setbacks on the road against Northwest (Wash.) and Evergreen (Wash.). After that frustrating weekend, they went 10-1-2 the rest of the way. The only loss was against College of Idaho, which they paid back in the CCC Tournament quarterfinals, and both draws came against league champion Warner Pacific. The second draw occurred in the CCC Tournament semis, where WPU prevailed to end the Raiders' season.

POSITION PREVIEWS
ATTACKERS: A year after earning NAIA All-America honorable mention, Alan Gaytan became SOU's all-time goals leader by bringing his total to 27 and earned another spot on the All-CCC first team in 2022. While he finished with eight goals and six assists, Sam Walker broke out alongside him with a team-high 10 goals and four assists in a career-best season. Their speed and playmaking is back, as is the physicality of junior Evan Norconk, who totaled six goals (including three game-winners) and four assists and broke into the starting lineup.

Two freshmen – Mustafa Daggig, who had 17 goals and nine assists as a senior at Parkrose High in Portland, and New Zealand native Moh Reynolds – are expected to break into the rotation. Eventually, so will Vancouver, Wash., product David Moore, who redshirted at NCAA Division I school Liberty University (Va.) in 2022.

"They create a lot of chances," Carmichael said. "We feel like they can do it in a variety of ways, too."

MIDFIELDERS: Adrian Villegas remains the only Raider to ever hit double figures in both goals and assists in a single season, a feat he accomplished as an NAIA All-America honorable mention recipient in 2019. A three-time CCC all-star, he remains one of SOU's primary creators at midfield and was responsible for six goals last season. Villegas is penciled in again with junior Sky Charley-Bolyard and senior Omar Ramirez, giving the Raiders the same starting group they featured a year ago. Kevin Nevinger returns as a key fifth-year reserve, having appeared 15 times in 2022.

"It's really good for us to have a group out there that is already so connected," Carmichael said.

Down the road, he expects to get the services of newcomers Alex Hjulmand and Franco Fasoli. Hjulmand, a junior and attacking-midfielder from Denmark, was twice an all-star at Butte College (Calif.) before redshirting in 2022 at Central Arkansas. Fasoli, a junior from Argentina, accumulated 11 goals and 14 assists over the last two years at Southwest Mississippi C.C.

DEFENDERS: Junior New Zealand product Brad Thomas will be in SOU's starting 11 for the third consecutive season as a center defender. The Raiders added some skill next to him last year in right-fullback Tybalt Thornberry, who arrived from Montana State-Billings and immediately became an All-CCC first-team performer while compiling seven assists, the fourth-highest total in the circuit. They'll get even more creative on the back line by welcoming freshman left-back Daniel Palomino, the Phoenix High graduate who registered 16 goals and 10 assists to lead the Pirates to the Class 4A state championship match. Josue Reyes will get an opportunity after redshirting the 2022 season. Newcomers Simon Huebner and Bryan Mendoza, both junior-college all-stars in California, were brought in as reinforcements.

"Thomas and Thornberry are both experienced and reliable, and with the people we have next to them it's just a matter of trying to find consistency," Carmichael said.

GOALKEEPERS: Senior Anthony Armenta is back after breaking into the lineup last year, when he finished third on the CCC leaderboard in goals-allowed average (0.68) and fourth in save percentage (.795) while turning in six clean sheets. Armenta will compete for the job again with Casey Ruvolo, who got seven starts as a freshman and gave up eight goals with a .724 save percentage.