COMING UP: at Benedictine Mesa, Friday, 8 p.m.; at Embry-Riddle, Sunday, 7:30 p.m.
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION: Both matches from Arizona will be streamed live on the GSAC Sports Network, with Live Stats through the OIT SIDEARM Stats Platform. Links are available at https://oregontechowls.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule.
 
OPPONENT INFORMATION – BENEDICTINE MESA (0-1)
2ND ALL-TIME MEETING | LAST MET IN 2025 | SERIES TIED 0-0-1: Tech heads to Arizona for the second-straight year, opening play at Benedictine Mesa. The Redhawks had a stellar 2025 season, finishing 10-5-5 and reached the Great Southwest Athletic Conference Tournament final, but the current club has a new head coach and were picked fourth in their league's preseason poll. BenU outscored their opponents 46-26 last season, but lost the bulk of their attack, returning just four starters – including midfielders Ryder Skolka (4 goals, 1 assist) and Pol Bistue (2 assists), along with defender Jack Jackson (1 assist). The two sides met for the first time last year in Klamath, ending in a 1-1 draw.
 
OPPONENT INFORMATION – EMBRY-RIDDLE (0-1-1)
2ND ALL-TIME MEETING | LAST MET IN 2015 | ERAU LEADS SERIES 1-0: The trip ends 100 miles north of Phoenix in Prescott, as the Owls climb to 5,200 feet to meet Embry-Riddle. The Eagles were picked second in the GSAC preseason poll after finishing last season 7-6-5 – opening 2026 with a scoreless draw vs. Warner Pacific and a 2-0 loss to Westcliff. ERAU returns the bulk of their attack from last season, including forwards Natai Bental (11 goals, 2 assists) and Cesar Battistini (4 goals, 1 assist), along with midfielders Sean McGuire (3 goals, 4 assists) and Lucas Thompson (2 goals, 3 assists). The two teams met once before, a 2015 date in Salem, where ERAU topped Tech, 4-2.
 
MATCHING UP IN ARIZONA: The trip to Arizona marks OIT's third trip to the Phoenix metro, heading to the desert in 2023 and 2025, combining for a 2-1-1 record. In 2023, the Owls traveled to Maricopa County – earning a 3-1 victory at OUAZ but dropped a 2-1 decision at Arizona Christian. Last year, Tech posted a 2-0 victory at ACU, before playing Park-Gilbert to a scoreless draw.
 
AGAINST THE GSAC: The matchups with Benedictine Mesa and Embry-Riddle pits the Cascade Conference against the 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 3-5-2 – with the Owls yet to meet La Sierra, Life Pacific or Soka. Next week, GSAC members Arizona Christian and The Master's travel to the Basin to meet the Owls.

AUGUST GAMES: Tech will play an August game for the 16th time in 19 seasons (the 2009 and 2021 seasons opened in September, while the 2020 season was played in the spring of 2021). The Owls are 8-9-5 all-time in August games – including a current 11-match unbeaten streak.
 
TECH WINS OPENER: A stifling defense was the story in OIT's opener vs. Simpson, as Tech held the Redhawks to a single shot attempt in a 3-0 victory on Thursday afternoon. The Owls finished the day with a 12-1 edge in shots and a 3-1 edge in corners – with three different players finding the back of the net.
 
NEWCOMERS CONNECT ON FIRST GOAL: The Owls capitalized on the first set piece of the 2026 season, scoring off a corner kick just 12 minutes into the contest. Nathan Becerra played a perfect ball to the back post, clearing all of the Simpson defenders, finding the boot of Yahir Ramos, who slotted home the eventual game-winner.
 
FRESHMAN SCORES IN DEBUT: A large contingent of fans, including many current and former high school players from the Basin, were in attendance to watch Layne Worrell make his collegiate debut, with the Henley High grad sending the fans home happy with a first half goal. The freshmen collected a cross from Cannon Spooner right in front of the goal mouth and tapped in the counter, giving Tech a 2-0 lead.
 
GEORGE SCORES FIRST CAREER GOAL: Three years in the making, forward Andrew George picked up his first goal in an OIT kit, converting a 20-yard drive into the left corner of the net late in Thursday's win. George, who used a redshirt season in 2024 and played in half of the matches last season, took a thru-ball from Andre Ramirez, who tallied his first career assist.
 
TECH CONTINUES TREND WHEN SCORING THREE GOALS: For the 77th time in program history, OIT scored 3-or-more goals in a game, improving to 74-2-1 in such contests (five of the matches were later forfeited due to an ineligible player). The Owls are 30-2-1 when scoring three goals and a combine 34-0 when posting four goals or more (19-0 scoring four goals, 12-0 scoring five goals, 5-0 scoring six goals, 4-0 scoring seven goals, while winning a match when scoring nine, 10, 11 or 12 goals – Tech has never finished a match with eight goals).
 
COLLEGE DEBUTS: Thursday's game marked the collegiate debuts of four Hustlin' Owls. Along with the aforementioned Layne Worrell, true freshmen Elijah Rodriguez and Luis Barajas saw action as reserves, while redshirt freshman keeper Noah Harwood debuted in goal, facing just one shot in recording a clean sheet. Four others, junior transfers Yahir Ramos, Nathan Becerra, Raul Arzola, and Kevin Alvarenga, made their OIT debuts.
 
OWLS PICKED SEVENTH: The Hustlin' Owls were picked seventh in the 2026 Cascade Conference preseason poll, accumulating 94 voter points from the 13 league coaches. The four CCC squads that advanced to last season's NAIA Tournament claimed the top spots – Eastern Oregon (149), Carroll (148), Warner Pacific (147) and Rocky Mountain (133), followed by College of Idaho (116) and Southern Oregon (114) – with OIT hosting each of the sides this season in Klamath. The first NAIA Top-25 poll was released last Wednesday, with Warner Pacific ranked No. 8.
 
AROUND THE LEAGUE: The CCC went unbeaten during the first week of the season, as Warner Pacific was 1-0-1 in Arizona, including a win at Arizona Christian, with Rocky Mountain upsetting No. 1 ranked Grand View in Iowa and playing William Penn to a scoreless draw. Southern Oregon defeated Simpson and Carroll stopped Dordt, while Northwest (vs. George Fox) and College of Idaho (vs. Northwest Nazarene) played to 0-0 draws. This week, Southern Oregon heads to Arizona, facing the same teams at OIT, Walla Walla opens the season at St. Martin's, Northwest and Evergreen host OUAZ, Warner Pacific and Bushnell play Stanton, with both Northwest and Corban meeting Pacific. The league schedule opens play on Sept.18.
 
RECORD BOOK: Entering the 2026 season, only one player ranks among the OIT Top-20 in the career record book, as Dalton Rideout enters the season No. 19 in program history in goals scored (9).
 
NEXT WEEK: Tech returns home for a pair of big match-ups, hosting Arizona Christian (Thursday 9/3, 1 p.m.) and The Master's (Saturday 9/5, 2:30 p.m.)