Photo by Bob Palermini, www.palermini.com.
SOU goes big early, dominates Knights 3-0
SOU Sports Information
ASHLAND – For the first time in October, one of the subjects of Southern Oregon's halftime chat was protecting a lead on Friday afternoon at Raider Stadium.
The Raiders enjoyed that luxury after scoring three times in the first half of their 3-0 win over Warner Pacific, their second straight victory going into Sunday's 10 a.m. home finale against Multnomah.
SOU (7-5-2 overall, 4-3-2 CCC) had only scored one first-half goal in its previous five games, and hadn't secured a first-half lead in six. Senior forward Mia Volpatti changed that in the fourth minute, when Trinity Rhoades led her into the left side of the box for a quick strike. It turned into Volpatti's first goal of the season and the 11th of her career, putting her in the top-15 on SOU's all-time list.
In the 40th minute, Ruth Hegstad's corner kick ricocheted from player to player before finding Michala Denn for a point-blank shot fired into the net. Two minutes later, Sarah Mauk got lined up with the right post inside the box and converted for her second goal – giving fellow freshman Mia Santander her first collegiate points with the assist.
Denn, a junior defender, has recorded points in four of SOU's last five games. The goal was her third of the season.
The Knights (3-9, 3-5) didn't register their first shot until the 74th minute. SOU ran up a 30-2 disparity, and Knights keeper Alyssa Guthrie made eight saves.
The shutout was SOU's second in a row and sixth of the season, though keeper Jessie Selby didn't need a save to complete it.
The Raiders have defeated WPU in five consecutive seasons. They're now unbeaten in 15 of their last 16 home games and haven't lost to the Knights in Ashland since 2008.
SOU moved into fifth place in the CCC in terms of winning percentage; they're seventh in the points standings but an uneven number of games have been played throughout the CCC.
Following Sunday's game, SOU will recognize six seniors appearing at Raider Stadium for the last time.\