8 a.m. Saturday – Benedictine Mesa (0-1) at SOU (0-0)
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ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon women's soccer team will attempt to piece together a 10th consecutive winning season starting with Saturday's 8 a.m. opener against Benedictine Mesa (Calif.) at Raider Stadium.

After landing in the middle of the Cascade Conference pack each of the last two seasons, the Raiders know a leap is necessary to add a second NAIA National Tournament appearance to their consistent track record.

The continued maturation of their roster, which includes 20 returning players and 13 upperclassmen, should help that cause. They brought back four of their top-five individuals in terms of minutes played, a core headlined by All-CCC junior midfielder Frida Vargas and four-year starting defender Miller Bertani.

"This team's effort and desire to develop is a lot of fun to be around," said SOU head coach Jenni Rosenberg ahead of her 13th season. "It takes time to develop the chemistry on the field that you need to get to the next level, and I think we're seeing that growth now."

PRESEASON POLLS
The Raiders took the No. 5 spot in the CCC preseason coaches' poll. College of Idaho, which has won 25 consecutive conference games dating back to 2022, was the unanimous favorite to repeat, followed by Oregon Tech, Eastern Oregon and Carroll (Mont.). C of I also represented the circuit in this week's NAIA Top 25 preseason poll, opening at No. 3 on the strength of its run to last year's national semifinal round.

FIRST UP
Saturday's game against Benedictine Mesa – which dropped its opener Thursday at Oregon Tech, 4-0 – is the first of four counters on the Raiders' schedule before they begin CCC play. Three of them will be at home, the others at noon on Sept. 4 against Hope International (Calif.) and at 10 a.m. on Sept. 6 against Westcliff (Calif.).

LAST SEASON
SOU's 8-7-2 overall record in 2024 included a 5-5-2 mark in the CCC, which put them sixth in the standings. The team's 14th consecutive CCC Tournament appearance ended in the first round with a 1-0 loss to Eastern Oregon. The story of the season was the Raiders' inability to get over the hump against elite competition: they went 0-4-1 against the teams that finished ahead of them and 5-1-1 against everyone else.

POSITION BY POSITION
GOALKEEPERS: Elite goalkeeping has been a pillar of the Raiders' recent history, but the position will look a little different with the graduation of Ashlynn Hernandez, a two-time member of the All-CCC team. Hernandez played every minute of 2024, and her backup, senior Brittany Standley, will get a chance this fall. Rosenberg brought in three freshman keepers: Hannah Dickinson, Ashlyn Fuss and Issy Rutherford. Fuss, an all-state performer at Idaho's Owyhee High, was on track to be the starter before suffering a recent injury.

DEFENDERS: On the surface, the SOU's goals-allowed average of 1.1 last year in CCC play was perfectly acceptable, the fifth-best in the circuit. It was also, however, the first time the Raiders gave up more than a goal per game since 2017 and not enough to neutralize some offensive inconsistency. A return to top form on the back line is a safe bet with All-CCC honorable mention recipient Miller Bertani and Payton Puppe-Wotipka in the center of the action. Bertani, a senior, has made 50 starts in her career, while Puppe-Wotipka started all 17 games as a sophomore. Junior Kaylah Bresee (3 assists) and sophomore Carter O'Shea will get the nods at outside back after becoming regulars last fall, and junior Lucia Finney will return to that mix as well. A pair of transfers, Emma High (Jessup U.) and Mary Whalen (Rogue C.C.), will provide depth with sophomore Payton Griffin.

MIDFIELDERS: SOU's most significant development last fall was the emergence of Frida Vargas as a high-level creator as she put together an All-CCC second-team sophomore season with four goals and six assists. That, and the fact that Sierra Betzler made herself essential as a true-freshman holding midfielder, coming off the field only briefly in one blowout. They'll be relied upon as the glue and supplemented by several other experienced Raiders. Mia Ammons is back for her senior year, entering her third season at SOU with five career goals, and junior Cadence Wilson has established herself as a regular contributor. Redshirt-freshmen Isabella Amoth and Lily Patrick are set to step in for the first time, as is highly-touted true freshman Macie Yannoni.

FORWARDS: Sophomore Ava Johnson and junior Brooklyn Hayes tied for the team lead with five goals apiece last season, giving the Raiders a pair of established attackers. They'll feature more of Abby McKean, who has 16 starts under her belt entering her junior campaign, along with seniors Taytum Curtis (2 goals, 1 assist) and Emily Hyde, who has worked her way back from injury. They hope to get Iniana Hammond back from injury – she recorded four goals and three assists as a freshman before redshirting in 2024 – and redshirt-freshman Sierra Sam Fong could give them more depth. The biggest addition on the attacking front was freshman Tori Lasch, an all-star four years in a row for Ridgefield High's back-to-back state championship squad in Washington.