Preview: CCC Women's Soccer Championships presented by U.S. Bank
Willamalane Sports Complex | Springfield, Ore. | Tournament Central
FRIDAY'S GAMES (CCC QUARTERFINALS)
5 p.m. – #8 Providence (Mont.) vs. #1 Eastern Oregon
5 p.m. – #7 The College of Idaho vs. #2 Rocky Mountain (Mont.)
8 p.m. – #5 Southern Oregon vs. #4 Corban
8 p.m. – #6 Northwest (Wash.) vs. #3 Oregon Tech
SATURDAY'S GAMES (CCC SEMIFINALS)
7 p.m. – Highest remaining seed vs. Lowest remaining seed
7 p.m. – Next highest seed vs. Next lowest seed
MONDAY'S GAME (CCC CHAMPIONSHIP)
3 p.m. – Semifinal winners
LA GRANDE – The Cascade Collegiate Conference crowned a new women’s soccer champion in the regular season, and the only certainty about an unpredictable field in the CCC Championships presented by U.S. Bank is that a brand new tournament winner will emerge as well.
Eastern Oregon, fresh off its first title and already in possession of the CCC’s first automatic bid to the NAIA Championships, is the team to beat in an eight-team tournament that shockingly will not include Carroll (Mont.) – the preseason favorite and winner of the last two tournament and regular-season titles.
The event is being hosted by Northwest Christian for the third year in a row at Willamalane Sports Complex in Springfield, where the quarterfinal round is set for Friday at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. on adjacent fields. The tournament is not bracketed; the highest remaining seed will face the lowest remaining seed in Saturday’s 7 p.m. semifinal matchups. The championship match is set for 3 p.m. Monday, and the winner will receive the CCC’s second automatic bid to the national tournament – unless that winner is EOU, in which case it would go to the other finalist.
Tourney at a Glance:
– Of the top-four seeds in the tournament,
Corban was the only team picked to be one in the coaches’ preseason poll.
Eastern Oregon was picked to finish seventh, second-seeded
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) was picked fifth, and third-seeded
Oregon Tech was picked 10th.
– Last year as the fifth seed,
Northwest (Wash.) earned the automatic national tourney bid through the CCC Championships. Though they lost to Carroll in the final, the Eagles went on to reach the NAIA semifinals – becoming the first-ever unseeded team to do so.
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EOU, under first-year coach Jacob Plocher, got an offensive boost from CCC Newcomer of the Year Taylor Boyer (5 goals, 3 assist) but was most dominant defensively – allowing just four goals with seven shutouts in CCC regular-season play.
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Rocky Mountain, which was responsible for EOU’s only conference loss, features the most explosive playmaker in the tournament in CCC Offensive Player of the Year Lauryn Gamache. The sophomore forward has tallied 13 goals and four assists and recorded at least one point in six of Rocky’s last seven games.
– At 8-3,
Oregon Tech was the surprise of the regular season. In the previous three years combined, the Owls won five conference contests. They finished the 2017 regular season with four wins in their last five games, all by shutout.
– The 4-5 game,
Corban vs.
Southern Oregon, is a rematch of a 1-0 Raiders win in Salem on Sept. 30. SOU has shut out the Warriors in their last four meetings, but the Warriors have advanced through all four postseason tilts between the teams.
– The Nos. 7 and 8 seeds,
The College of Idaho and
Providence (Mont.), are dangerous in their own rights. The Yotes boast CCC Defensive Player of the Year Brittany Houghton, who has allowed just 0.8 goals per game on an .881 save percentage, and the Argos lean on speedy forward Eme McLaughlin, whose six CCC goals ranked second in the conference.