SOU Tops Eastern Oregon, 3-1
ASHLAND, Ore. – The Southern Oregon women’s soccer team earned their second win of the Cascade Conference season, topping Eastern Oregon 3-1 on Saturday afternoon at University Field. With the win the Raiders improve to 5-4-1 on the season and 2-1 in CCC play while EOU falls to 2-5 and 1-3 respectively.
During the first half, the Raiders were able to capitalize on a Mountaineer hand-ball to score their first goal of the game. After a Sara Switzer (Redondo Beach, Calif.) corner kick, an EOU defender was called for a hand ball just inside the goal box giving the Raiders a penalty kick. Senior Judi Dietz (Lake Tahoe, Calif.) was up to the task of sending the shot to the back of the net, putting it just to the left of goalkeeper Kristina Kennedy 25-minutes into the game.
Just five minutes later, Switzer fed a second ball in front of the goal, this time a long cross from the right, where Justina MacDowell (Bellevue, Wash.) was available to send a header into the goal to put the Raiders up 2-0.
The Mountaineers’ Lori Wilson answered back just two minutes later, scoring Eastern’s lone goal of the game off a Nicole Archibeque assist. Wilson was able to take the shot straight on with the goal after Archibeque fed an excellent pass from the left side of the field to make the score 2-1 just before the half.
The Raiders secured their win late in the second half after Morgan Spencer fed a corner in front of the goal. EOU’s Kennedy was able to clear the corner kick, but Kayla Wilhelm (Grants Pass, Ore.) got a foot on the ball, feeding Mo Costello (Seattle, Wash.) who wailed a shot just over the reach of Kennedy for the Raiders third goal of the game.
Kara Bradach (Tigard, Ore.) joined MacDowell to lead the Raiders in shots (3) while each of Bradach’s shots were on-goal to lead the team. Goalkeeper Melanie Hopkins was able to record three saves on the day facing only seven EOU shots on the day.
The Raiders totaled 13 shots (10 on-goal) while also capitalizing on seven corner kicks. Eastern Oregon recorded seven shots (4 on-goal) while taking only two corner kicks on the day.
The Mountaineers were led by Wilson with four shots, two on-goal and the lone goal of the game, while Kennedy and her back-up Molly Sumpter were able to record four and one saves, respectively.
The Raiders will continue play on Tuesday, September 25 when they play host to William Jessup at University Field. Game start is slated for 4 p.m.