The No. 12 Raiders flexed some muscle this past Saturday, crushing Humboldt State 23-5.
This game marked Southern Oregon’s first game against Division II teams, in which they made a clear statement
Leading the offense were seniors Bubba Van Egdom with eight goals and three assists; Tyler Baumann with three goals and four assists; freshman Tom Halley and junior Lump McQuown with two goals and two assists. Freshman play had a large impact as well with Cal Christensen, Andrew McKay, Kolby McNeal, and Tucker VanMatre all registering their first ever-collegiate point.
Play during the first half was rather tame with the Raiders building a 8-3 lead heading into the half, however a cheap shot on junior Midfielder Nate Gregg caused a heated moment as ruckus ensued, leaving Gregg out of the game with a neck injury and another Raider ejected.
Gregg’s injury seemed to ignite some sort of rage within the Raiders as they came out in the second half scoring seven goals in the first five minutes.
Fortunately, Gregg’s injury is not expected to be severe, and will be back on the field hopefully by this weekend if not next.
Confidence was high after the game which is something the Raiders will need to keep up as they head into what is perhaps their biggest weekend of the year.
On Saturday, the Raiders travel to Willamette University, who will act as a neutral host as SOU takes on No. 17 Western Washington to kick off inter conference play.
This game will no doubt be an enormous challenge and could have playoff implications later on in the season.
The very next day, SOU travels to Lake Oswego High School for a neutral site game against No. 8 Westminster College, a team that is two years removed from being the national champ.
Westminster has reloaded and looks to be very dangerous as they knocked off Western Washington in Las Vegas last weekend 14-7.
If the Raiders can pull off the sweep they will no doubt catch the nations attention and perhaps crack the top ten for the first time in the program’s storied history.
