(Editor’s note: Cascade Collegiate Conference release)
EUGENE, Ore. – The CCC Championship game will feature No. 1 seed Southern Oregon University and No. 3 seed Rocky Mountain College after both schools won their semifinal contests on Thursday evening in the Cascade Collegiate Conference Men’s Soccer Tournament presented by U.S. Bank.
No. 1 Southern Oregon 4, No. 7 Carroll 0
The regular season CCC champions lost their first two games of the 2018 season but have since had a positive result in 18 consecutive matches, allowing just four goals during that span. Their 14th shutout of the season came Thursday as they rolled to victory over the Saints, 4-0.
Renee Resendez put the Raiders ahead for good in the 38th minute, scoring the eventual game-winner as he headed in a cross from Paul Matyas. SOU broke things open in the second half as Brendan Allen scored in the 53rd minute, followed by back-to-back goals from Alejandro Velasquez and Resendez just two minutes apart.
Carroll finished the game with a 13-12 edge in shot attempts while the Raiders were up 9-1 in the shots-on-goal count, accounting for the one lone save made by Wyatt Zabinski in his clean sheet effort.
No. 3 Rocky Mountain 1, No. 4 Eastern Oregon 0
Just one minute into the second half, Marco Kummerle scored the game-winner and the only goal of the match as the Bears knocked off the Mounties to advance to the championship game and earn the second Cascade Collegiate Conference automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship Tournament.
It was EOU that dominated the pace of play over the first 45-minute set, taking five shots-on-goal and holding an 8-7 edge in total shots. After RMC’s strike, the match played out relatively even. For Rocky keeper Kristofer Wennin, it was a seven-save shutout performance.
SOU and Rocky will face off in the CCC tournament championship game at 3:00 pm on Saturday afternoon on field one of the Les Schwab Sports Complex in Springfield, Ore.
Top- seed Eastern Oregon University advanced to their second straight championship game in the Cascade Conference Women’s Soccer Championship Tournament presented by U.S. Bank, while Northwest University has earned the CCC’s second automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament.
No. 1 Eastern Oregon 1, No. 7 Rocky Mountain 0
Eastern Oregon allowed just two shots-on-goal as they collected their fifth straight win or tie-and-advance in CCC tournament competition. CCC Offensive Player of the Year Taylor Boyer got the job done in the 37th minute, connecting on a penalty kick for the only score of the game. EOU held a 16-7 shot advantage, had six corner kicks to zero for the Bears, and Cydni Cottrell collected two saves in the shutout win.
No. 5 Northwest 4, No. 6 College of Idaho 0
Northwest University finds themselves in a familiar spot after their second shutout in as many days has advanced them to their third straight CCC Tournament Championship final. As they did the previous two years, NU has earned the CCC’s second automatic bid to the national tournament as they will either be tournament champions on Saturday, or the tournament runner-up behind regular-season champion EOU.
Katie Michkiosky, wasted little time in getting her second game-winner in a row. Her kick after a pass from Jubilee Zevenbergen found the back of the net for her Cascade Conference-leading 20th goal of the season. Michkiosky has now scored more goals than anyone in the Cascade Conference has in 15 years.
The Eagles added another goal before the intermission, this time off the foot of Zevenbergen who connected from 20 yards out off of a feed from Hannah Nicholson. The second half featured two more goals as NU pulled away including a phenomenal 30-yard strike from Olivia Morris that hit off the corner of the upper left V and bounced into the net.
The CCC Championship game, a rematch of last year’s title clash, will be played at 12:00 pm on Saturday at the Les Schwab Sports Park in Springfield, Oregon.
