The Southern Oregon Raiders Women’s Soccer team has punched its ticket to the NAIA National Championship Tournament while the Men’s team is hopeful of an at-large bid with Friday’s announcement of the Men’s National Championship Tournament field, following the Cascade Collegiate Conference Men’s and Women’s Soccer Championship Tournaments, hosted concurrently by Southern Oregon University and the Oregon Institute of Technology at Gary H. Wheeler Field, in Medford’s Lithia and Driveway Fields, that concluded on Veterans Day.
The women’s team earned its bid to the National Championship Tournament after advancing past Rocky Mountain 5—4 on penalty kicks in the Cascade Conference Tournament semifinal. Because College of Idaho advanced to the Conference Tournament Championship and had already qualified for the National Championship Tournament as the Conference’s regular-season champion, the Raiders were guaranteed the Conference’s second automatic bid to the National Championship Tournament by advancing to the Conference Tournament Championship.
In the Cascade Conference Women’s Soccer Tournament Championship, the Raiders women’s team went up 2—0 early with goals on successive shots by Ava Johnson, who booted a 12-yard shot into the lower left corner of the Yotes’ goal in the 11th minute, and Abby McKean, who placed a header off of Macie Yannoni’s corner kick into the back post less than 3-½ minutes later in the 15th minute.
However, the fatigue of 3 matches in 5 days appeared to set in on the Raiders as the offense struggled, only taking one shot over the remainder of the contest. The defense shone as the Yotes controlled much of the contest after Southern Oregon’s goals and through the second half as College of Idaho outshot SOU 29-3 in regulation. The Yotes came back with two goals by Abbi Roubidoux (16), in the 28th minute, and Rylee Russell (10) in the 76th minute. Despite the Raiders being outshot 29–3 at the end of regulation, the score remained tied at 2—2. SOU GK Ashlyn Fuss made 11 saves to help force overtime.
In overtime, the final 10 minutes of play largely resembled the previous 90, as the Yotes outshot the Raiders 3—0. In the 100th minute, Russell (11) secured the golden goal for College of Idaho on a cross pass to the top of the penalty area where her second touch landed just inside the left goalpost to give College of Idaho a 3—2 victory.
In the Cascade Conference Men’s Soccer Tournament Championship, Southern Oregon fell to the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers 2—1 following a highly physical contest that saw as many fouls as it did total shots. Maximo Melgar scored his first goal of the season in the 6th minute with a header, off a headed pass received from a corner kick to the back post. The Mountaineers went up 2—0 in the 68th minute on a counterattack by Henry Lopez (10) that found the bottom-right corner of the goal.
Late in the second half, the Raiders’ offense perked up as momentum began to shift towards them. Ariel De Dios Cruz (10) slotted a 17-yard shot off his left foot to breathe life into the Raiders in the 76th minute.
Both teams received Yellow Cards soon after as play intensified; however, the momentum collapsed when Cruz Cuevas-George was shown the Red Card, after receiving a Yellow Card 5 minutes previously. The Red Card with 6 minutes to go put the Raiders a man down at the time when they needed all feet on the pitch. Eastern Oregon would close out the contest 2—1 in regulation.
The loss moved the Raiders men’s team to a 13—4—3 record. With Rocky Mountain winning the Conference’s regular-season championship and Eastern Oregon securing the Conference’s final automatic berth with the Conference Tournament Championship, the fate of the Raiders’ Championship hopes now rests in the hands of the NAIA Tournament Selection Committee. Whether the Raiders’ appearance in the Conference Tournament Championship is enough to win over a selection committee will be answered on Friday, November 13, 2026, when the NAIA announces its field for the Men’s Soccer National Championship Tournament.
