COMING UP: at NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship – first-round at No. 8 MidAmerica Nazarene, Thursday, 11 a.m. (CST)
WATCH LIVE: All matches from the first and second-rounds of the NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship in Olathe, Kan., will be carried live on the
Heart of America Conference Network with Chad Jenkins handling the play-by-play. In-game stats will be available through the
MNU SIDEARM Portal.
TRAVEL INFORMATION: The Owls boarded an early-morning flight Tuesday from Medford, through Denver, set to arrive in Kansas City in the late afternoon, followed by a one-hour drive to Olathe, Kan. The team will be staying at Courtyard by Marriott (12151 South Strang Line Court, Olathe, KS 66062 / 913-839-4504 – as for the MNU Soccer Family rate)
TICKET INFORMATION: Games are scheduled to be played at Pioneer Field on the MNU campus, with ticket prices set for $8.00 for adults, $7.00 for senior citizens and $5.00 for students. Tickets can be purchased prior to the match online through
University Tickets.
OWLS HEADED TO KANSAS: For just the third time in program history, OIT will head outside of the footprint of the Cascade Conference (and Northern California), traveling to Olathe, Kan., for the first two rounds of the NAIA Championships. In 2018, the Owls headed to Los Angeles for matches against The Master's and Hope International, while last year, Tech match-up with Lyon (Ark.) in Bartlesville, Okla., in the first-round of the NAIA Championships. Olathe is the furthest east OIT has ever played in men's soccer.
SURVEYING THE FIELD: The 40-team field was selected on Monday – including 26 automatic bids through the conference process (Bellevue, Bethel, Cardinal Stritch, Central Methodist, Columbia, Columbia International, Concordia, Embry-Riddle, Florida National, Hastings, Indiana Tech, Keiser, Life, Lindsey Wilson, LSU-Shreveport, Madonna, Mid-America Christian, Milligan, Oklahoma Wesleyan, Olivet Nazarene, Oregon tech, Rio Grande, St. Mary, UC Merced, Vanguard, Warner Pacific, William Penn) and 14 at-large bids through a selection committee (Corban, Cumberlands, Dalton State, Georgia Gwinnett, Grace, Indiana Wesleyan, MidAmerica Nazarene, Missouri Valley, Mobile, St. Thomas, Northwestern Ohio, William Carey, Williams Baptist). The winners of the 10 first and second-round sites will advance to the Final Site in Decatur, Ala., Nov. 29-Dec. 5.
HISTORY IN THE POSTSEASON: After failing to qualify for the postseason in their first eight seasons, the Owls are making their sixth-straight playoff appearance. Tech failed to score a goal in their first four playoff contests – dropping matches to Rocky Mountain (2016), Northwest Christian (2017) and Southern Oregon (2018), while falling to Eastern Oregon (2019) in a shootout. Last season, OIT won the CCC Tournament title – stopping Evergreen, advancing on penalties against SOU and defeating Warner Pacific in two overtimes – clinching a bid to the NAIA Championships, where the Owls were eliminated in a shootout vs. Lyon (Ark.). Tech has an all-time postseason record of 4-4-3 and a 1-2 record in shootouts.
OPPONENT PREVIEW – MIDAMERICA NAZARENE: Tech drew the No. 4 seed in the Olathe Bracket and will meet host and No. 8-ranked MidAmerica Nazarene in their first-round match. The Pioneers (13-3-3) are a perennial power from the Heart of America Athletic Conference – making their 11th all-time tournament appearance, including reaching the national quarterfinals last season and advancing to the 2015 national title game. MNU has a diverse roster featuring players from 13 different countries and seven players named to the recent All-HAAC team. Keeper Enzo Carvalho (0.97 GAA, .791 save pct.) has recorded seven shutouts this season and is helped by defender Marco Izurieta (1 goal, 1 assist). Midfielder Jony Munoz (7 goals, 6 assists) was named HAAC Newcomer of the Year, with forwards Rick Hovinga (15 goals, 1 assist) and Nicolas Theberge (3 goals, 10 assists) dangerous in the offensive third.
IF TECH WINS: The winner of the OIT-MNU match will meet the winner of William Carey vs. LSU-Shreveport on Saturday at 1 p.m. (CST) for a trip to Decatur. WCU (11-2-3) earned an at-large bid after losing in the first-round of the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament and are led by SSAC Player of the Year Brandon Birmingham (20 goals, 7 assists). LSUS (14-3-3) is the Red River Athletic Conference Tournament champion and heads to Kansas on a 7-match win streak behind the play of RRAC Player of the Year Maurice Theart (13 goals, 2 assists).
10-WIN SEASONS: With their victory over Bushnell on Oct. 22, the Owls secured their tenth win of the year – the second-straight season OIT has reached 10-or-more wins and the third time in program history. The 13 victories in 2022 ranks No. 2 on the wins list – behind the 17 wins during the 2021 season.
100 WINS: OIT reached the 100-win mark in program history last Wednesday with their victory over Corban, improving their all-time record to 100-143-23 since men's soccer began in 2008.
TWO UNBEATEN STREAKS: Tech saw their 12-match unbeaten streak snapped in the Cascade Conference Tournament final – the second-longest unbeaten streak by the club. OIT had a 19-match unbeaten streak snapped with their Sept. 23 loss to Southern Oregon, with the 12-match run beginning with their Sept. 30 victory over Rocky Mountain. Since Sept. 25, 2021, the Owls are a combined 26-2-7 over their last 35 contests.
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT RECAP: The Owls advanced to their second-straight CCC Tournament title game on the strength of an overtime win over Eastern Oregon and an impressive 2-0 victory against No. 25-ranked Corban. In the quarterfinal, OIT rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits, taking the lead for good on a
Cade O'Neill penalty kick early in extra time. Two second half goals in the semifinal – one from
Ellis Harwood and another from
John Sarna – secured the trip to the championship. Facing Warner Pacific for the second time in less than two weeks, the two squads needed extra time – with the Knights scoring three times in the 20-minute session to claim the crown.
OWLS EARN ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS: Six players were honored last Monday as members of the All-CCC team – including first-team picks
Brock Rideout and
Cade O'Neill. Rideout, a defender, earned the honor for the third time in his career, with O'Neill, a forward, earning the distinction for the first time. Keeper
Joel Witts and midfielder
Andrew Pasang earned second-team honors, with defensive midfielder
DeShone Myles and defender
Ryan Pearson selected to the honorable mention list.
SEASON RECORDS BY THE WAYSIDE: As a team, the Owls have established a new single-season record for goals scored (53), assists (43) and points (149) – all surpassing the previous marks set during the 2021 campaign. Individually,
Cade O'Neill holds the school record for goals (13), points (27) and shot attempts (62) in a season, while
Brock Rideout has tied the single-season mark for assists (8).
Andrew Pasang sits in the No. 2 spot for goals (10) and points (26), ranking in a tie for seventh in assists (6) along with
Ryan Pearson (6).
RECORD BOOK: Five OIT players are among the Top-15 in the program's all-time record book following the CCC Tournament. Both
John Sarna and
Brock Rideout are tied for both the all-time game-winning goals record (7) – with Sarna No. 1 in points (57), total shots (151) and assists (17), ranking No. 2 in goals scored (20), while Rideout ranks No. 2 in points (54) and assists (16), No. 3 in goals scored (19) and No. 4 in shots (123).
Joel Witts holds the all-time record for goalie wins (30) and shutouts (15);
Cade O'Neill is No. 2 in total shots (141), No. 3 in goals scored (19) and No. 4 in points (45); with
Andrew Pasang No. 9 in assists (10), No. 11 in points (34) and No. 12 in goals scored (12).
NEW OVERTIME RULES: The 2022 season will feature a new set of rules for games tied at the end of regulation. Beginning this year, any regular-season match that is tied after 90 minutes will be declared a draw – no overtime period will be played. In the NAIA Tournament, all games that are tied after 90 minutes will feature two 10-minute overtime periods – that will be played out in its entirety – regardless of how many goals are scored. If the postseason overtime period ends in a tie, a penalty shootout will determine the team that advances.
