ASHLAND – No. 24-ranked Southern Oregon snatched a couple of critical extra points from the jaws of a draw against College of Idaho on Saturday afternoon at Raider Stadium.

Kaito Nakayama's 87th-minute penalty kick was the difference as the Raiders stole a 1-0 win in a rematch of the 2023 Cascade Conference Tournament championship game, finally returning a gut-punch to the only circuit team that has defeated them over the last two years.

With time winding down in the scoreless game, SOU's Simon Huebner lofted a long pass to the outer edges of the box. Its landing triggered a collision between Jayden Cameron and C of I keeper Matej Hron, and the latter was whistled for a foul with 3:17 left on the clock.

It put Nakayama at the penalty area, where he calmly slotted a shot inside the left post as Hron lunged helplessly to the opposite direction.

The Raiders moved to 8-2-1 overall and 5-0-1 in the CCC. They stand in first place for the moment, though their time there may be brief pending 5-0-0 Carroll (Mont.)'s late game against Bushnell.

Over their last 35 games against CCC teams going back to 2022, regular season and postseason included, the Raiders are 29-3-3. All three of those losses had come against the Yotes, who fell to 5-3-1 and 3-3-0.

SOU keeper Casey Ruvolo – a day after stopping a penalty kick in a 1-0 win against Eastern Oregon – turned in a couple more highlight-worthy saves among his four to keep the Yotes off the board. Junior defender Josué Ghiessy Biveghe kept the shutout intact with just over a minute remaining by making a clean tackle in the box to disrupt a C of I advantage.

The Raiders have allowed only one goal in conference play, shutting out each of their last four opponents. The Yotes had gone 27 consecutive games without being blanked dating back to last season.

Nakayama's goal was his second of the season. He picked up his CCC-leading sixth assist on Friday and has now recorded a point in seven of SOU's eight wins this season.

The Raiders are on the road to face Rocky Mountain (Mont.) and Walla Walla (Wash.) next week. They return home Oct. 18 for a critical matchup with Carroll.