HELENA, Mont. – Already down one all-conference defender, the Southern Oregon men's soccer team couldn't withstand the loss of another while playing a man down for the majority of Saturday's 3-1 loss to Carroll (Mont.) at Nelson Stadium.
Irwin Leon registered his eighth goal of the season in the fifth minute, but the defending Cascade Conference champions soon used their advantage to take over, improving to 7-1-1 overall and 5-0-0 in the CCC. The Raiders dipped to 8-2-1 and 3-2-0.
The Raiders were without
Josue Ghiessy Biveghe, who was injured early in Thursday's 1-0 loss at Rocky Mountain (Mont.). In the 27th minute they lost reigning CCC defensive player of the year
Tristan Skerritt, too, after he was sent off for a hand-ball in front of the goal that stopped a Saints scoring opportunity.
Felix Billard converted the ensuing penalty kick to equalize. The Saints claimed the lead four minutes into the second half on a Sam Loughton goal assisted by Enrico Paparelli, and four minutes later Pedro Rivera doubled it with an assist from Justus Hermann.
The Saints dominated the run of play with SOU down to 10 players, building a 25-10 edge in total shots and generating 15 in the second half alone. SOU keeper
Casey Ruvolo kept it from getting uglier with seven saves.
The teams entered the matchup as the only ones in the CCC receiving votes in this week's NAIA Top 25 coaches' poll.
The win was the Saints' sixth in a row. They've outscored opponents 15-2 combined during the streak.
The Raiders are back home next week, playing Providence (Mont.) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
