CCC Women’s Soccer Tournament Championship Preview

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Two teams will compete for the 2021 Cascade Collegiate Conference Women’s Soccer Tournament Championship, presented by U.S. Bank, Friday afternoon.  
 
CCC Tournament Page
 
Top-seeded Oregon Tech and third-seeded College of Idaho will battle it out at 3:00 p.m. Pacific at Civic Park in Eugene, Ore., for the tournament title. Live video can be found here for a fee, while live stats are provided for free here.
 
Both teams have secured their spots in the NAIA National Tournament so it all comes down to the hardware. OIT picked up the CCC’s first automatic qualifier (AQ) after clinching the regular-season championship, leaving the second AQ for whoever advanced to the CCC tournament championship with the Owls.
 
The 19^th-ranked Owls held onto a 1-0 victory over No. 8 seed Carroll College in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinal round of the CCC tournament. Maddie Miller scored the lone goal for the Owls in the 40^th minute.
 
In the semifinals, OIT secured its spot in the championship game with a 3-0 victory over fourth-seeded Northwest University. Kiah Wetzell scored all three goals for the Owls. CCC Defensive Player of the Year Alyx Burkhartzmeyer made 14 saves to grab the clean sheet.
 
The Coyotes, who are receiving votes in the latest NAIA Coaches’ Poll, proved to be more efficient on the finishing end in their quarterfinal matchup with sixth-seeded Corban University. Despite the Warriors holding an 18-to-10 shots advantage, C of I grabbed a 3-1 victory to keep playing. Lily Schlake struck first for the Coyotes in the 28^th minute and Isabel Deville added some insurance in the 52^nd minute. It came in handy as Corban’s Juliana Pires cut the score to 2-1, but Chloe Teets all but secured the Yote victory in the 69^th minute.
 
One day later, College of Idaho and second-seeded Southern Oregon University battled through sloppy conditions with the Coyotes coming out on top 1-0. Alexa Rierson scored the lone goal in the 40^th minute to lift the Coyotes into the championship game.
 
During the regular season matchup between C of I and OIT, the Owls posted a 3-1 victory over the Coyotes, despite a close 14-to-13 shot ratio held by Oregon Tech. Larissa Wegner got the Yotes on the board first in the 19^th minute, but Wetzell answered back less than seven minutes later. Mehana Ortiz found the go-ahead goal in the 40^th minute and Nyah Kendall capped the scoring with a goal in the 75^th minute.