CCC WOMEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT PRESENTED BY U.S. BANK
Lithia & Driveway Fields | Medford, Oregon
Saturday, Nov. 7 – Quarterfinals
(2) Southern Oregon 1, (7) Corban 0 (2OT)
(3) Rocky Mountain 1, (6) Carroll 1 (PKs: RMC 6, CC 5)
(1) College of Idaho 6, (8) Bushnell 1
(4) Eastern Oregon 1, (5) Northwest 0
Monday, Nov. 9 – Semifinals
College of Idaho 2, Eastern Oregon 1
Southern Oregon 0, Rocky Mountain 0 (PKs: SOU 5, RMC 4)
Wednesday, Nov. 11 – Championship
College of Idaho 3, Southern Oregon 2 (OT)
MEDFORD – The Southern Oregon women's soccer team came out hot in its first Cascade Conference Tournament championship game appearance but couldn't hold off top-seeded College of Idaho in a 3-2 overtime loss Wednesday morning at Wheeler Field.
After conceding goals to SOU's
Ava Johnson and
Abby McKean within the first 15 minutes of play, the Yotes (17-3-0) scored the last three unanswered to win their fourth consecutive title. They claimed sudden victory with a strike in the 100th minute by Rylee Russell, who'd also provided the equalizer in the 76th.
Both teams entered the matchup having already qualified automatically for the NAIA National Tournament. The 40-team bracket will be released at 3 p.m. Friday, and the first round is slated for Nov. 19.
Coming off Monday's double-overtime semifinal that went to a shootout, the No. 2-seeded Raiders (12-3-5) got exactly the start they needed before running out of gas.
Tori Lasch assisted Johnson for the first goal, a 12-yarder shot to the bottom left corner of the net, and McKean headed in the second off
Macie Yannoni's corner kick to the back post.
Those were the only shots the Raiders put on goal all afternoon – their only other attempt was manufactured late in the second half – and the Yotes kept the pressure on by firing 32 times.
Redshirt-freshman goalkeeper
Ashlyn Fuss made 11 saves, but the attacking volume caught up to SOU. Abbi Roubidoux's 16th goal of the season cut into the lead in the 28th minute, and Russell finally leveled the score with just under 15 minutes left in regulation by finishing a header set up expertly by Claire Busse and Shaelyn Olson.
With 41 seconds to go in the first overtime session, Russell corralled an Alondra Osuna cross and took two touches in the box before going inside the left post for her 11th score of the fall.
Fuss finished the tournament with 25 saves in three games. She and the Raiders had blanked their last four opponents.
The win was C of I's eighth in a row.
