Document text
RAIDER ROUNDUP: SOU men rally to stun OIT By SOU Sports Information Sep 23, 2022 11:46 PM A A KLAMATH FALLS — An unprecedented comeback gave the Southern Oregon men’s soccer team a 3-2 victory over Oregon Tech and new life in the Cascade Conference on Friday afternoon at OIT Soccer Field. For the first time in the program’s eight-season history, the Raiders rallied to win after facing a two-goal deficit by scoring three unanswered. In the process, they ended their archrivals’ 15-game regular-season unbeaten streak that dated back to the Owls’ 1-0 loss at SOU 364 days ago. Kaden Barker scored a remarkable deciding goal fitting for the occasion in the 74th minute. On a counter, the sophomore from Bend took the ball from beyond midfield, shed a defender off his back and streaked into a 35-yard missile of a strike that left OIT keeper Joel Witts no chance while finding the upper-right pocket. The Raiders, who dropped their first two conference contests last week in Washington, improved to 4-4 overall and 1-2 in the CCC. The Owls (3-1-2, 2-1) — last year’s CCC co-champions — had given up fewer than two goals in each of their previous 16 home games dating back to 2019. Barker’s first career goal was perhaps even less stunning than the sequence of events that left the score leveled at 2-all. The Owls got on the board a minute into the game when Cade O’Neill took a shot out of a scrum that deflected off a Raider defender and snuck into the net, and O’Neill made it 2-0 in the 10th minute by volleying in Andrew Pasang’s cross from the corner. Adrian Villegas reenergized the Raiders in the 33rd, rebounding Tybalt Thornberry’s miss to take a shot from the top of the box that nicked the crossbar and bounced in. Four minutes later, Alan Gaytan lined in a strike while laid out on his side to equalize. Thornberry and Noah Addie were credited with assists. The Raiders totaled 10 shots and limited OIT to eight despite playing without all-conference defender Zak Woolley and losing another defender, Robby Running, to injury 20 seconds into the game. Barker was the reserve who came on to fill his spot. Women’s Soccer SOU 0, OREGON TECH 0: At Klamath Falls, Southern Oregon put the pressure on late and stole a road point from the defending Cascade Conference champs, settling on a scoreless draw with Oregon Tech at OIT Soccer Field. The Raiders went to 2-4-2 overall and 1-1-1 in the CCC. They shut out the Owls (2-1-3, 1-0-2) for the second straight season. They also dominated play late and threatened several times with the clock winding down. Of their eight shots, seven were recorded in the second half and six over the final 10 minutes, when they put three on goal. Taytum Curtis came on to put two on goal in her closing shift. She gave the Raiders their last chance with 58 seconds to go, a header off Madison Childers’ corner kick that OIT keeper Sydni Nakamura corralled for her fourth save. SOU’s Jessie Selby made four saves for her second shutout of the season. The all-conference senior has allowed 0.8 goals per game in five outings with a save percentage of .867.