Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo.
Saints slow down Raiders, win 3-0 to keep first place
SOU Sports Information
ASHLAND – Carroll College negated the Southern Oregon women's soccer team's long-building momentum Friday night by lulling the Raiders to sleep in Cascade Conference play.
When SOU awoke, it was somehow a 3-0 loser at Raider Stadium. The Saints got off just five shots, but converted two of them and received some additional help from the Raiders to keep their grip on first place.
Carroll's first shot of the night (and only shot of the first half) was Caitlin Walter's 18-yard shot fired from left to right that was set up when she crossed over her defender to create space. Lexi Pyette jumped on an easy rebound of Michaela Kueffler's shot to make it 2-0 in the 61st minute, and an own goal in the 81st provided the final score.
Carroll went to 11-4-1 overall and 8-1-1 in the CCC. The Raiders, who had won six of their previous seven games and hadn't allowed multiple goals in a month, fell to 7-8-2 and 6-4.
The first shot of the game didn't even occur until 20 minutes into the contest. SOU had an 8-5 edge in shots taken but went periods of 17 minutes and 12 minutes without one in the second half.
Incidentally, the Saints have shut out four of their last five opponents. Jamie Carter protected the goal with three saves.
SOU – which has already secured a playoff spot but is still playing for seeding – will play its final game before an 18-day layoff between the regular season and postseason at 7:30 p.m. Saturday against Great Falls.