KIRKLAND – Northwest finishes the regular season this weekend with a pair of must-pass tests with Oregon Tech on Friday and Southern Oregon Saturday.
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Both games start at 2:30 p.m.
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Saturday is Senior Day for NU, and the Eagles plan to honor
Jordan Travis and
Joey Starr prior to the game.
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Heading into the weekend, the Eagles are on the outside looking in on the postseason. The Eagles, however, are just one point behind Warner Pacific and two behind Carroll and Evergreen with six points on the table this weekend. Carroll has only three points available with a home game against 7-5 Providence. WPU plays at Eastern Oregon and College of Idaho. Evergreen, like NU, plays Oregon Tech and Southern Oregon. Evergreen and Carroll own head-to-head tiebreakers with the Eagles.
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The task will be a difficult one as the Eagles will face the two toughest goalkeepers, statistically. Tech's Mitchell Jillson is second in the Cascade Collegiate Conference with a 0.95 goals-against average. Wyatt Zabinski of Southern Oregon allows 0.89 goals per game to lead the CCC.
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The Eagles have a 6-2 lead in the series with Oregon Tech over the last six meetings, though the teams left the field in a 2-2 draw last season. OIT later had to forfeit the contest along with six other Cascade Collegiate Conference games.
Jordan Travis had a goal in the match last season.
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Southern Oregon has taken the last three matches in the series, shutting out the Eagles the last three seasons. Northwest had only three shots last season and failed to test the goalkeeper.
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Northwest has won three of its last four home games with only a big rally by Corban keeping the Eagles from a four-game home pitch winning streak.
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Jordan Travis leads the Eagles with 10 goals and 24 points this season. Within the CCC, Travis is sixth in goals and fifth in points. Freshman
Elliot Misic is seventh in the conference with 2.85 shots per game and third with 1.92 shots on goal per game.Â
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Freshman
Alexander Thiehofe allows 1.18 goals per game, which is sixth in the CCC. Thiehofe also averages 4.07 saves per game and is fourth in the league in that category.
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Oregon Tech is 9-4-3 overall and 6-4-1 in Cascade Conference games this season after playing Warner Pacific to a scoreless draw. John Sarna leads the Owls with seven goals, and Daniel Blessinger leads with four assists.Â
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Southern Oregon stands at 10-5-1 overall and 8-2-1 in the CCC. The Raiders enter the weekend on three-game winning and six-game unbeaten streaks. Adrian Villegas has 10 goals and 10 assists for 30 points and leads the team in all three categories.Â
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