COMING UP: at The Master's, Thursday, 2:30 p.m.; at Hope International, Saturday, 7 p.m.
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION: Both matches in California will be streamed on the GSAC Sports Network – Thursday at The Master's and Saturday at Hope International - with Live Stats available through OIT's SIDEARM Stats Portal.
 
MULTIMEDIA: All photos from the 2024 season will be posted online via the OIT Men's Soccer Flickr Page, while highlight clips will be posted online via the OIT Men's Soccer YouTube Channel.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – THE MASTER'S: Tech hops on an airplane to California this week, opening play Thursday afternoon in Santa Clarita against The Master's – coming off a 9-6-3 season. The Mustangs (0-1) opened the new season dropping a 4-0 decision to a Top-25 Westcliff side – despite returning three All-GSAC performers. TMU has two big All-GSAC midfielders who are tough to mark, 6-foot-3 Kai Terentieff (8 goals, 1 assists) and 6-foot-1 Tyrik Trotman (7 goals, 2 assists), along with returning forwards Caden Zierenberg (3 goals, 7 assists) and Prince Chingancheke (5 goals, 1 assists). Defensively, the Mustangs used true freshman keeper Julian Graham in the loss against Westcliff. The two teams met in 2018, with TMU topping Tech, 1-0.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – HOPE INTERNATIONAL: The trip ends in Fullerton and an evening date with Hope International, the defending GSAC Tournament champs. The Royals (1-1) finished last season with a 15-4-2 record, advancing to the first-round of the NAIA National Championships – but lost seven of their top eight scorers, including four All-GSAC selections. Midfielder Jorge Perez (8 goals, 3 assists) is the top returning scorer, with reserves Cristian Carranza (2 goals, 1 assist) and Sebastian Ramirez (2 goals, 1 assist) elevated to starting roles. Keeper Milton Herrera (1.16 GAA, .720 save pct., 4 ShO) returns to anchor the HIU defense. The Royals opened the season with a 6-1 win over Soka, before dropping a 2-1 decision to Missouri Baptist – with newcomer Uriel Sanchez combining for three goals. The two teams have met once before, with HIU earning a 3-2 overtime win in 2018.
 
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN': This weekend marks the second time OIT has traveled to Southern California – as the 2018 team played both The Master's and Hope International in Santa Clarita. Ten other times, the Owls competed in games in either the Bay Area, Sacramento or Redding – including each of the past two years.
 
AGAINST THE GSAC: Both The Master's and Hope International are a part of the newly named Great Southwest Athletic Conference (formerly the Golden State Athletic Conference) – a league that has evolved over the past 15 years, as 12 different schools have left the circuit for either the NCAA Division I or II – with the league grabbing multiple former members of the California Pacific Conference. Against current GSAC members, the Owls are a combined 1-4 – losing single games against HIU, TMU, Arizona Christian and Embry-Riddle, with the lone win against Ottawa.  Tech played games against two former members – combining for a 5-4-2 record against Menlo and Jessup.
 
TECH TOPS SIMPSON, HOLDS LEAD IN SKY CUP SERIES: With the new Sky Cup crystal ball trophy on the line in the home-and-home series with Simpson, the Hustlin' Owls used a dominant performance on the pitch for a 4-2 victory and a 2-goal lead in the aggregate heading into the Sept. 13 tilt in Redding. Tech used two goals in just over a minute midway through the first half and cruised to the win, holding a 16-8 shot advantage.
 
ALVARADO WITH A BRACE IN HOME OPENER: Transfer Wolfgang Alvarado made a big impact in the win over Simpson, scoring a pair of first half goals to help the Owls build a 3-1 lead at the break. The midfielder took a short pass from Lennyn Solis at the top of the 18 and drove a left-footed shot into the right-corner of the net midway through the first half, while just before the break, Alvarado ripped a 30-yard laser into the top left corner of the goal to complete his brace.
 
FRESHMAN FINDS THE NET: Playing in his second collegiate contest, true freshman Cash Cota scored the Owls second first half goal in the Simpson victory. Cota collected a rebound of a shot from Dalton Rideout and flicked a shot off the right post and into the net, giving Tech a 2-0 lead.
 
PROOST BACK IN THE SCORING COLUMN: The Owls final goal against Simpson was tallied by forward Arthur Proost – his first goal since missing both the 2022 and 2023 seasons due to injury – spanning 1,076 calendar days. Proost scored five goals during his first season at Tech in 2021 – with his last goal coming on Sept. 17, 2021 in a win over Northwest.
 
PLAYING AT HOME: Since the OIT Soccer Field was transitioned from natural grass to an artificial turf surface in 2017, the Owls have posted a 37-10-4 record on their own pitch. Since 2020, Tech has dominated foes, recording a 28-5-3 home record, including a 1-0 mark this year.
 
HOME SCORING STREAK: With the win over Simpson, Tech extended their goal scoring streak at home to 22 matches – dating back to a 2021 loss to Southern Oregon.
 
OWLS PICKED FIFTH IN CCC POLL: Coming off their third-straight trip to the Cascade Conference Tournament semifinals, Oregon Tech was picked fifth out of 14 teams in the 2024 CCC Preseason Coaches' Poll, released Aug. 7 by the league office. Tech received 128 voter points from the 14 league coaches following an 11-5-3 season, with the club returning a pair of All-CCC performers. Defending CCC regular-season champ, Southern Oregon, earned eight first-place votes and took the top spot with 216 voter points, while CCC Tournament champ, College of Idaho grabbed five first-place nods, placing second with 182 points. Warner Pacific (163) and Carroll College (149) placed third and fourth in the tabulation, with the Owls well ahead of sixth-place Evergreen State (109).
 
AROUND THE CONFERENCE: It was not a banner week for the Cascade Conference, as a majority of the league's clubs struggled on the pitch. Both Carroll and Providence were toppled by Division III Whitworth, Multnomah lost at Division III Pacific, Southern Oregon lost to OUAZ (but beat Arizona Christian) – with Northwest losing to both teams, Evergreen State lost at Whitman (though Eastern Oregon defeated the Whits), with Corban losing to Missouri Baptist (Warner Pacific logged a win over MBU). This week, both EOU and College of Idaho host Simpson, Pacific Union travels to Multnomah, Corban hosts Linfield, with Carroll meeting MSU-Billings.
 
RECORD BOOK: Three players are currently ranked among the Top-20 the OIT all-time career record book. Andrew Pasang is No. 2 all-time in goals scored (24), assists (18), total points (66) and game-winning goals (8), ranking No. 7 in total shot attempts (106); Ryan Solis is No. 4 in shutouts (8) and goalie wins (10), ranking No. 9 in saves (66); with Kevin Rodriguez No. 12 in assists (9).
 
LOOKING AHEAD: The Owls close out the non-conference schedule on Friday, Sept. 13, with the second-leg of the Sky Cup Series at Simpson.