ASHLAND – Southern Oregon freshman Cruz Cuevas-George made his first goal a memorable one in a 1-0 defeat of Arizona Christian on Friday afternoon at Raider Stadium's Laurel Field.
In the 51st minute of a scoreless game, Cuevas-George lined up a free kick from the left side, 23 yards up the field, and curled it inside the near post for a game-winner that made the Raiders 3-0-1.
Twenty-four hours earlier, the McMinnville product supplied the assist that gave SOU a 1-1 draw against The Master's (Calif.).
His goal arrived when the Raiders couldn't find the finish they needed in a game they controlled throughout. They had 16 shots to the Firestorm's five, placed six on goal, and generated 10 corner kicks. ACU's Emiliano Vega made five saves and JP Warnell nearly widened the gap when he hit the post in the 74th.
Another Raider freshman, goalkeeper Daniel Espinosa, turned in his first career clean sheet with three impressive saves.
ACU dropped to 1-2-2 a day after playing to a scoreless draw with Oregon Tech.
Over the last four seasons, the Raiders are 15-3-2 in non-conference regular season games. They'll play an exhibition Tuesday at University of Portland before starting Cascade Conference play on Sept. 18 at Northwest (Wash.).