COMING UP: at Arizona Christian, Thursday, 8 p.m.; at OUAZ, Saturday, 7 p.m.
 
GAMEDAY INFORMATION: Thursday's match-up at Arizona Christian will be carried live on ACU's GSAC Sports Channel, with Live Stats via ACU's SIDEARM Stats Portal. Saturday's contest at Ottawa University of Arizona will be carried live online via OUAZ's GSAC Sports Channel, with Live Stats via OUAZ'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 – ARIZONA CHRISTIAN: The Owls make the long journey to Phoenix this week, opening a 2-game road swing at Arizona Christian. The Firestorm (3-1) had an outstanding 2022 season, posting a 10-3-5 mark, with the new club already earning a win against Eastern Oregon, but had a 3-match win streak snapped with a 1-0 loss to Southern Oregon. ACU returns a pair of All-Golden State Athletic Conference picks in keeper Carlos Gallardo (0.75 GAA, .824 save%) and midfielder Aiden Abbott (1 assist), with the squad led in scoring by the duo of Marlon Arce (2 goals) and Cristhian Flores (2 goals). It is the first meeting between OIT and ACU.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT – OUAZ: Tech plays their final non-conference match of the season Saturday against OUAZ (Ottawa University of Arizona), as the Spirit (2-1-2) are coming off a 12-6-2 season and a trip to the GSAC Tournament finals. The school, which began athletics in 2017, has a 1-1-1 mark against Cascade Conference opponents this season (a win over Providence, a draw with Eastern Oregon and a 3-2 loss to Southern Oregon). All-America forward Jamaine Turner (3 goals, 2 assists) is off to an outstanding start, with midfielders Tom Cohen (2 goals, 1 assist) and Peyton Montiel-Villegas (2 goals, 1 assist) key role players. Keepers Yu-Liang Chu (1.68 GAA, .444 save%) and Christian Ortiz (1.50 GAA, .769 save%) have shared time in goal. It is the first-ever meeting between the sides.
 
AGAINST THE GSAC: Including the season-opening draw at Menlo, the Owls have a 3-6-2 all-time record against the Golden State Athletic Conference – a 3-1 mark against Jessup, an 0-3-2 mark against Menlo and 0-1 records against both Hope International and The Master's.
 
FIRST TIME TO THE DESERT?: This week will be uncharted waters for the Hustlin' Owls, as OIT makes their first-ever trip to Arizona for key regional matchups. Outside of trips to the 2021 (Bartlesville, Okla.) and 2022 (Olathe, Kan.) NAIA Championship Opening Round tournaments, Tech has traveled south of the Bay Area just once – a 2018 trip to Santa Clarita, Calif., for games against Hope International and The Master's. Heat will be a factor in the Phoenix metro – as temperatures are expected to top out around 110 degrees on both Thursday and Saturday.
 
SOLIS NAMED DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Recording his second-straight shutout to start his OIT career, keeper Ryan Solis was honored as Rize Laboratory-Cascade Conference Defensive Player of the Week. The junior made five saves in the win over Simpson and is 9-for-9 in stopping shots on goal during the 2023 season.
 
BACK-TO-BACK SHUTOUTS: For the 15th time in OIT men's soccer history, the Owls recorded consecutive shutouts (0-0 draw at Menlo, 3-0 win vs. Simpson). Tech has six shutout streaks longer that two matches – recording 3-straight shutout wins in 2015, 2016 and 2022; 4-straight shutout wins in 2019 and 2021; with a record 6-match shutout streak during the 2021 campaign.
 
PASANG TIES ASSIST RECORD: Last season, Andrew Pasang ranked second on the team in assists, finishing with six helpers. Friday, Pasang recorded half his 2022 total in the win over Simpson – recording an assist on all three goals in the 3-0 victory. The junior became the first OIT player to record two 3-assist games – having achieved the feat in a 10-0 win last year at Walla Walla – with Friday's effort the fourth 3-assist game in program history, joining former teammates Jake Mitchell and John Sarna, who each had 3-assist games in 2021.
 
PISO WITH THE BRACE: One of only two seniors on the team, Rosendo Juarez-Flores was the offensive catalyst against Simpson, recording his first brace at OIT in the victory. "Piso" converted a nifty left-footed strike into the right corner of the net in the third minute for the eventual game-winner, while capping the scoring midway through the first half after a great thru-ball gave Juarez-Flores a 1-v-1 opportunity.
 
GREAT DEBUT: After missing the season opener at Menlo, Yuki Enomoto made a big impact in the win over Simpson – driving home a one-time sitter at the top of the 6-yard-box – giving Tech a 2-goal lead. It was the first goal scored by the junior since the 2021 season when he was a player at Menlo College.
 
BACK LINE STOUT: A big key to the OIT success is the play of the backs – turning away 25 shots (10 on frame) and 15 corner kick opportunities in the first two matches combined. Center backs Cooper Hunt and Sebastian Brunk, along with outside backs Brock Rideout and Ryan Pearson have been the key – playing all but a combined 12 minutes on the season.
 
AROUND THE CONFERENCE: Bushnell, Northwest and Southern Oregon opened the 2023 season with perfect 2-0 records, with Rocky Mountain picking up a victory in their debut. Four teams (Carroll, Corban, Oregon Tech and Eastern Oregon) remain unbeaten after logging draws in their first contest of the season. This weekend, Rocky makes a long trip to Florida for matches vs. Keiser and Webber International, Corban heads to California to meet Menlo and Pacific Union, both SOU and EOU trek to Arizona for dates at OUAZ, Embry-Riddle and Arizona Christian, while Northwest, College of Idaho, Bushnell and Walla Walla have dates with Division III teams from the Northwest Conference.
 
TOP-25 POLL: After not receiving votes in the preseason NAIA Top-25 poll, the Hustlin' Owls climbed into the "others' receiving votes" category in the first regular-season tabulation, earning 11 points from the 20 national raters. Southern Oregon joined the Top-25 at No. 24, while Warner Pacific received votes. OIT last joined the Top-25 during the final five weeks of the 2021 season, climbing as high as No. 19.
 
AROUND THE CONFERENCE: Southern Oregon continued their outstanding start to 2023, earning road wins at Arizona Christian and OUAZ to improve to 4-0 on the campaign. Bushnell is off to their best start in school history, sitting at 4-0-1 after a draw vs. Pacific, while both Northwest and Warner Pacific enter the week at 3-1 – NU coming off a loss at Whitworth, with WP extending a win streak to three with a 5-0 win over Park-Gilbert. Key matches this week include Providence and Rocky Mountain hosting Jamestown, SOU hosting Menlo, with Multnomah traveling to Cal Maritime.
 
NEXT WEEK: The Owls open up the 13-match Cascade Conference schedule on the road with games in Portland against Multnomah (Sept. 15) and Warner Pacific (Sept. 16).