COMING UP: at Eastern Oregon, Friday, 4 p.m.; at College of Idaho, Saturday, 5:30 p.m. (MDT)
 
GAMEDAY INFORMATION: Both weekend games will be carried live on the Owls Sports Network – Friday's match produced by Eastern Oregon (PPV - $7.95) and Saturday's match produced by College of Idaho (PPV - $9.00). Live Stats for both matches will be available via OIT's SIDEARM Stats Portal.
 
MULTIMEDIA: All photos from the 2023 season will be posted online via the OIT Men's Soccer Flickr Page, while highlight clips and interviews will be posted online via the new OIT Men's Soccer YouTube Channel.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT – EASTERN OREGON: The Owls will put a 3-match road win streak on the line Friday at Eastern Oregon, as the Mountaineers (2-4-2, 2-2 CCC) are coming off a home sweep of Rocky Mountain and Walla Walla. EOU opened the season winless in its first six matches – but found the offensive rhythm on its home turf, behind the play of Milton Hernandez (3 goals, 1 assist), Edgar Perez (2 goals, 3 assists), Carlos Rodriguez (1 goal, 2 assists) and All-CCC defender Daniel Kropf (1 goal, 1 assist). The Mounties have used three different keepers through eight matches, with Eric Canela (2.06 GAA, 33 saves, .767 S%) playing the bulk of the minutes.
 
HISTORY VS. THE MOUNTAINEERS: OIT has had the upper-hand on the series vs. Eastern, holding a 7-1-1 series lead – including last season's overtime victory over the Mounties in the Cascade Conference Tournament quarterfinals. It is the fourth meeting between the sides in La Grande, with Tech winning 2-of-3 matches in the Grande Ronde Valley.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT – COLLEGE OF IDAHO: Coming off their best season since 2008, C of I sits atop the Cascade Conference table heading into weekend play. The Yotes (5-2-1, 4-0) opened the season with a draw and loss in California, but have since rattled off 5-straight wins, including 4-straight shutouts, outscoring their opponents this season, 22-5 – with the team yet to surrender a first half goal. C of I has a trio of formidable scoring threats – Jorge Fernandez (5 goals), Eric Hornung (4 goals, 3 assists) and Joao Bastos (2 goals, 3 assists), complemented by All-CCC defender Emil Powles (2 goals, 1 assist). Keeper Tom Baynard-Smith (0.00 GAA, 14 saves, 1.000 S%) has yet to allow a goal.
 
HISTORY VS. THE COYOTES: Saturday night's match-up between OIT and C of I is the 22nd meeting, with the Yotes holding a commanding 17-4 series edge. The Hustlin' Owls have won the past two meetings – including last season's key 3-2 victory in the Basin. C of I won the first 10 matches in the Treasure Valley (including a forfeit win in 2019) before OIT broke through during the 2021 season.
 
ON THE EASTERN SWING: The long trip across the high desert has changed over the years with Eastern Oregon and Southern Oregon adding men's soccer in 2015. Prior to the addition – Tech and College of Idaho were travel partners for many seasons, as the league played a double round-robin schedule (without the current affiliate members). Originally, EOU was paired with Warner Pacific and C of I with Rocky Mountain, while two years later, EOU paired with Walla Walla (C of I remained with RMC). The current travel partner system of EOU and C of I began in 2019 – with this weekend marking the second trip for Tech to Community Stadium and Simplot Stadium. OIT swept the previous swing in 2021 – including a 1-0 win at C of I playing the majority of the match with 10 players.
 
3-STRAIGHT SHUTOUTS: The 3-0 victory over Bushnell marked the third-consecutive shutout victory for the Hustlin' Owls – the third-straight season Tech has recorded 3-or-more shutouts in a row. OIT first accomplished the feat in 2016, while posting 4-straight clean sheets during the 2019 season. In 2021, the Owls had streaks of 4-straight and 6-straight shutouts, while last year, recorded a string of three shutouts in a row. Tech leads the Cascade Conference with five shutouts in 2023 and ranks second in goals against average (0.75).
 
RIDEOUT BREAKS MORE RECORDS: With a goal and an assist against Bushnell, Brock Rideout finds his name atop nearly every career offensive category in the OIT record book. Rideout holds the all-time mark for games played (75), goals scored (22), game-winning goals (9) and points scored (61), while sharing the all-time mark for assists (17).
 
PEARSON LEADS THE LEAGUE: Outside back Ryan Pearson shared in two of the three goals in Friday's victory over Bushnell, pushing his season total to five – tops in the Cascade Conference. Pearson recorded his second assist off a throw-in early in the contest, as Rosendo Juarez-Flores touched home the opening tally, while the junior played a pretty ball to the corner of the 6-yard-box, finding Brock Rideout, who converted a diving header to extend the margin. Pearson has recorded five assists in his last five matches.
 
FRESHMAN BREKS THROUGH: Tech turned to a freshman to rally the squad against Corban, as Dalton Rideout scored his first career goals. The forward headed home a cross from Yuki Enomoto in the 60th minute to draw the Owls within a goal, while four minutes later, Rideout flicked home a touch from Cooper Hunt off an Andrew Pasang corner to square the score.
 
IRONMEN: Eight matches into the 2023 season and a pair of Hustlin' Owls have yet to be replaced from the pitch. Center back Sebastian Brunk and keeper Ryan Solis have played all 720 during the season, while two others have played over 700 minutes – Cooper Hunt (712) and Brock Rideout (704).
 
A YEAR BETWEEN HOME LOSSES: Saturday's loss to Corban marked the first home loss for OIT in one calendar year – as the previous loss at the OIT Soccer Field was an identical 3-2 decision to Southern Oregon on Sept. 23, 2022.
 
AROUND THE CONFERENCE: Heading into the third week of league play, two unbeaten teams remain – as College of Idaho holds a perfect 4-0 record, with Southern Oregon at 3-0 (the Saturday match-up between SOU and Bushnell was postponed due to air quality and was rescheduled for the end of the season). Both OIT and Carroll sit three points behind the leaders with a 3-1 mark. This week, the Seattle schools (Northwest and Evergreen State) travel to Portland (Warner Pacific and Multnomah), the Montana travel partners (Carroll and Providence) make the trip to the Valley (Corban and Bushnell), Walla Walla heads to Rocky Mountain, with SOU and OIT meeting rivals Eastern Oregon and C of I.
 
LEAGUE LEADERS: As a squad, the Owls lead the CCC in assists per game (2.00) and shutouts (5), ranking No. 2 in goals against average (0.75) and fewest cautions per game (0.88), No. 7 in goals per game (1.88), No. 9 in corner kicks per game (4.25) and No. 11 in shots per game (11.25). Individually, Ryan Pearson leads the circuit in assists (5), Andrew Pasang is No. 2 in assists (4), Rosendo Juarez-Flores is No. 7 in goals scored (4), with keeper Ryan Solis No. 1 in shutouts (5), No. 3 in goals against average (0.75) and save percentage (.857), ranking No. 5 in saves per game (4.5).
 
RECORD BOOK: Three players rank among the Top-10 in the career men's soccer record book – led by Brock Rideout, who holds the OIT mark for career points scored (61), goals (22), game-winning goals (9), assists (17) and games played (75). Andrew Pasang ranks No. 5 in assists (14), No. 8 in points scored (42) in goals (14), with Ryan Solis No. 5 in shutouts (5) and Ryan Pearson ranking No. 7 in assists (12).
 
NEXT WEEK: The Owls return to the Basin for a pair of games – Friday (Oct. 6) vs. Rocky Mountain and a rare Sunday (Oct. 6) date vs. Walla Walla.