Under the cool, cloudy skies of Ashland, Oregon, the Southern Oregon University Lady Raiders soccer team took to the pitch against Northwest Christian University Saturday afternoon.

The Raiders scored two first half goals via en route to a 3-0 victory over the Beacons to redeem themselves and close out senior weekend and Senior Day with an victory.

“Well they’re a collective incredible group and obviously we wanted to get a win and make the day as special as possible, and fortunately i think it worked out exactly that way.  It’s safe to say we wouldn’t be where we are today without them!” said head coach Jon Clement.

Late into the first half, the Raiders offense came to life against the Beacons tough scoring defense as Chloe Welch set herself up for an assist as senior Stephanie Carr broke the scoreless tie with her 10th goal of the season in the 32^nd minute.

Barely four minutes later, in the 36^th minute, senior Stacy Hamer broke through with a goal of her own, set up by Alex Balistrieri.

“We were thrilled to see so many players surge forward and commit themselves to a 2nd effort to generate a chance.” said Clement,  “In particular on our second goal Alex Balistrieri made a second effort to win back a ball on the endline, that gave her the seam she needed to drive toward the front post and put in the pass that Stacy finished…But without that extra effort that goal might not have happened, and it was key as it was a separator and gave us a ton of confidence heading into halftime.”

The Beacons found themselves on the wrong side of everything in the first half as they found themselves yellow carded twice in a 45 second span and had six of their 14 fouls called during the half.

Heading into the second half, the Raiders defense held their ground as they shut down and shut out the Beacons to no shots in the second frame and two in the whole game.

In the 70^th minute, Juile Zawzow tacked on an insurance policy goal by way of a Carr assist to expand the Raider lead to 3-0 as the Raiders glide to the finish line at game’s end.

The Raiders ended this game with 33 shots on goal on top of holding the Beacons to two shots on their turf and barely permitted any penetration by Northwest Christian past the midfield line.

With her 34^th career goal in a Raiders uniform Carr has passed Katie Emerson for the all-time goals scored title in Southern Oregon University history.

“One of the best things about steph is that she’s a team first person, so truthfully i’ve never heard her utter a word about it.” Clement started on Carr, “I know she places a bit of pressure on herself now and again but if anyone is capable of handling it she is.  She’s a tremendous player, really fun to work with and exciting to watch.”

Clement goes on to say about Carr that true scorers in the sports are really hard to come by and were very lucky and very excited time to have her on the team.

The Raiders (7-5-2) are finishing up the season on the road with the first test for the road warriors will be against rival Oregon Tech on Sunday.

Goals

1     2     T

Northwest Christian     0    0   –  0

Southern Oregon          2    1  –   3

SAVES– SOU- 1 NWC-7 FOULS– SOU-5 NWC-14 SHOTS– SOU-33 NWC-2

G                     Time          Team           Scorer                         Assist