SOU wears down Mountaineers, strikes late for 2-0 victory
SOU Sports Information
ASHLAND – Historically, Eastern Oregon has had a hard enough time generating offense against Southern Oregon at full strength. On Saturday afternoon at Raider Stadium, EOU added a self-inflicted handicap.
A red card forced to the Mountaineers play the final 82 minutes a man down, and SOU finally made them pay in the 72nd when freshman Sam Walker deposited the go-ahead goal in a 2-0 Cascade Conference win.
EOU (4-7-1 overall, 2-5 CCC) has still never scored against SOU (7-5, 5-2) in five head-to-head matchups, and in the latest put only one shot on goal after being forced to pack in the defense early as the result of Carlos Solorio's dismissal.
The Raiders put just one shot on target – not until Luis Aguilar's in the 69th minute – prior to Walker's fifth goal of the season, which was assisted by Adrian Villegas and Junior Rivas. SOU tacked on in the 88th when Jared Delaney redirected Walker's box-bound throw-in to Andrew DePaepe for an uncontested strike.
With their fifth win in six outings, the Raiders took over sole possession of third place. Their home unbeaten streak in CCC action extended to 17 games, a stretch in which they've blanked 15 opponents, and the shutout was their second of the weekend after they limited Providence (Mont.) to one shot on goal during Friday's win.
Walker's goal was his third in four games, and his assist gave him eight points in SOU's last five games and 13 on the season. Villegas initiated the action by splitting the defense and passing to Rivas at the top of the box, where with his back to the goal he tapped the ball behind him to find Walker in stride and in space.
DePaepe's goal later went down as the first in his career.
SOU had a 9-7 advantage in total shots. Calvin Mitchell was responsible for the only one that required a save from Raider keeper Wyatt Zabinski in the 39th minute.
The Raiders will pick up next weekend with a key road trip, playing Friday at first-place Corban and Saturday at Northwest Christian.