COMING UP: at Cascade Conference Championships, presented by U.S. Bank (Les Schwab Soccer Park, Springfield, Ore.) – Tuesday vs. No. 18 Corban, 11 a.m. (PT)
COMPLETE MEDIA GAME NOTES
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO: Live Stats and Live Video ($7.95 per game pay-per-view) for all CCC Championships games will be available through the Cascade Conference
Stretch Internet Portal.
COYOTES ADVANCE TO POSTSEASON: With victories over Multnomah and Warner Pacific over the weekend, the Coyotes did all they could to earn a spot in the 8-team Cascade Conference Championships, presented by U.S. Bank. The squad believed their season was over on Sunday night after losing out on a 3-team tiebreak for the No. 8 seed into the tournament (based on goal differential), however 48 hours later, C of I was given a golden ticket – as fourth-seed Providence abruptly pulled out of the tournament due to internal issues within their program, shifting the No. 5-7 seeds in the tournament up one position. With C of I and Carroll tied for the new potential No. 8 seed, the Yotes won the head-to-head tiebreak with the Fighting Saints due to a 2-0 victory in their Oct. 5 match-up in Caldwell – earning a quarterfinal match-up with Corban.
WHAT'S AT STAKE: The Cascade Conference receives two automatic bids to the NAIA Men's Soccer National Championships Opening Round – with Corban claiming one of the bids as the regular-season champion. The winner of the CCC Championships will earn the second automatic bid (or the tournament runner-up if Corban the tournament champion).
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE: Tuesday – Seed 1 Corban vs. Seed 8 College of Idaho / Seed 2 Rocky Mountain vs. Seed 7 Evergreen, 11 a.m. (PT); Seed 3 Southern Oregon vs. Seed 6 Northwest / Seed 4 Oregon Tech vs. Seed 5 Eastern Oregon, 2 p.m. (PT). Wednesday – Semifinals (Highest remaining seed vs. lowest remaining seed; second highest remaining seed vs. second lowest remaining seed), 4 p.m. (PT); Friday – Championship Match, 11 a.m. (PT)
WILD FINAL WEEKEND IN THE CCC: Even without the bombshell of Providence declining their tournament bid, the final weekend of Cascade Conference play provided drama in determining postseason berths. Eastern Oregon was in need of a win and a tie just to make the field – but wins over Warner Pacific and Multnomah helped the Mounties vault from the No. 9 team in the league into the No. 5 seed. Northwest used a Friday win over Oregon Tech to punch their ticket to the tournament, while Warner Pacific, needing just a draw in one of their final two matches to earn a postseason berth, dropped consecutive road games and fell from the No. 6 spot in the standings to No. 11 and was left out of the playoffs. Carroll also needed just a draw to punch their postseason ticket, but dropped a 2-1 home game to Providence.
HISTORY IN THE PLAYOFFS: The Coyotes have advanced to the playoffs 17 times in program history and last qualified for the postseason in 2017. The Yotes advanced to the NAIA District II tournament in 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1992; the NAIA Region I tournament in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003; and the CCC Championships in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2015 and 2017. The Yotes won the 1989 District II title and the 2000 Region I tourney titles and hold an 11-17-1 all-time postseason record – with their last playoff win coming in the 2008 CCC Tournament semifinals.
REMATCH WITH CORBAN: C of I earns a rematch of their CCC season opener at Corban, a contest that was scoreless until early in the second half, when the Warriors (14-0-2) got a Muki Onishi goal en route to a 2-0 win. Corban is one of three teams nationally without a loss, outscoring opponents 52-14 this season, behind the play of strikers Matheus Giron (13 goals, 5 assists), Onishi (7 goals, 4 assists) and Camilo Avendano (3 goals, 13 assists). Keepers Nic Farr (0.85 GAA, .800 save pct) and Justin Keegan (0.83 GAA, .739 save pct) have split time in goal. It marks the fourth postseason meeting between the teams, with Corban holding a 2-1 series lead. The Warriors earned a 5-0 win in 2002 CCC semifinals, as Danny Agee scored three goals on a 25-degree day in Caldwell, while C of I turned the tables a year later, getting a Joe Chandler hat trick in a 6-2 win in the semis. The teams met in the 2013 CCC quarterfinals in Salem, with Arsinio Walker scoring the golden goal in the 102nd minute, as the Warriors earned a 1-0 win.
OFFENSE COMES ALIVE OVER FINAL WEEKEND: C of I scored just 12 goals in their first 11 conference matches – scoring more than two goals just once on the season (a 3-1 win at Linfield). Things changed in a hurry against the Portland schools, combining for 66 shots in the two matches – scoring a combined nine goals – including five in Sunday's win over Warner Pacific. It was the most goals scored in a home match since the 2015 season, a 6-2 win over Walla Walla.
BROTHERS CONNECT: The highlight of the Nov. 1 win over Multnomah was the play of the O'Leary brothers – as freshman
Tom O'Leary scored his first two collegiate goals, both assisted by his older brother, junior
Jack O'Leary.
Jack O'Leary upped his team-leading scoring output to six goals with a marker against Warner Pacific – pushing his season scoring ledger to 17 points.
SENIOR SUNDAY: Playing their final game in Caldwell, the six C of I senior student-athletes were key in the win over Warner Pacific.
Bekir Cinac scored a goal and assisted on three others – setting up fellow seniors
Adam Prskavec and
Enrique Sanchez for goals – while
Ahmet Huremovic added a goal off a 20-yard free kick. In the defensive end, both
Lucas Schlake and
Cole Fuller were instrumental in holding off a WPU onslaught after the Yotes were forced to play the final 38 minutes a man down.
