ASHLAND – The No. 22-ranked Rocky Mountain (Mont.) men's soccer team got an early leg up in the Cascade Conference title race by taking down No. 16 Southern Oregon, 1-0, on Saturday afternoon at Raider Stadium's Laurel Field.
The Battlin' Bears (6-0-3 overall, 4-0-1 CCC), seeking their first full-season championship in nine years, took sole possession of first place with a perfectly-executed set piece finished by Fynn Sweeting in the 73rd minute.
Trapped in a stalemate, RMC was gifted a corner kick taken by Luke Tooze and directed just past the far post to Manny Mendez, who headed it in front of the goal for a one-timer that Sweeting turned into his sixth score of the season.
The Raiders (7-1-1, 4-1-0) were defeated and shut out for the first time this season. They'd only been blanked in one other CCC home game since the start of the 2021 season, but RMC's well-organized back line kept them to one shot on goal.
Redshirt-freshman keeper
Daniel Espinosa kept the game from getting away from the Raiders by making five exceptional saves. Four minutes after Sweeting's goal, he stopped a penalty kick for the second day in a row.
The result was the Battlin' Bears' third against a Top 25 opponent this fall. They started the campaign by upsetting preseason No. 1 Grand View (Iowa) on the road.
The clean sheet the fourth of the year turned in by RMC keeper Biruk Paulos Negatu.
