CCC Women's Soccer Quarterfinals Preview
LA GRANDE, Ore.- Earning bye weeks as the top two seeds in the Cascade Collegiate Conference women’s soccer tournament, Northwest and Concordia await the results of the quarterfinal matches featuring College of Idaho versus Warner Pacific on Wednesday, and Corban versus Southern Oregon on Thursday.
The SOU at Corban contest was moved to Thursday due to poor field conditions at Warrior Field and the desiganted back-up field not available today because of high school playoff games.
As the fifth seed, Warner Pacific (7-9-2, 4-4-1) will travel to Caldwell, Idaho, for the first quarterfinal matchup against fourth seeded College of Idaho (7-5-4, 4-2-3). This will be the second time this season C of I will host the Knights, the first time coming earlier in the season were the Yotes took a 3-1 victory.
Warner Pacific finished the season ranked third in the CCC in shots taken, averaging 12.89 per match and tied for fourth in goals with a total of 26 on the year. The Knights feature three players that finished in the top 10 in goals for the conference including junior forward Crystal Foster who tied for second with 8 goals.
As a team, C of I finished the year with the fourth lowest goals against average (1.21) allowing 21 goals total on the season. The Yotes finished second in saves (105) led by freshman goalkeeper Brittany Houghton who totaled 73 saves.
The second quarterfinal match will have third seed Corban (10-6-2, 5-3-1) hosting sixth seeded Southern Oregon (5-10-1, 4-4-1). The Raiders made the trip to Corban earlier in the year but was failed to secure a road win, falling to the Warriors 0-1.
Corban finished second in the conference in shots, averaging just over 15 shots per match and tied for fourth in goals (26). Senior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Mendenhall led the Warriors to the second best goals against average (0.65) and the third most shutouts (8).
The Raiders hope to find some offense after finishing the season ninth in shots per game and tied for eight in goals scored (22). Junior forward Megan McArthur led the Raiders recording five goals on the season.
Semifinals are Saturday with regular season champion Northwest taking on the lowest remaining seed and Concordia battling the next lowest remaining seed. Matchups will be announced on the CCC website at the conclusion of Thursday's contest.