Raiders defeat ninth-ranked Embry-Riddle behind Kaylah Bresee’s first goal and Ashlynn Hernandez’s goalkeeping
From SOU Sports Information
CALDWELL, Idaho — Judging by its first week, and particularly by Thursday’s upset of No. 9-ranked Embry-Riddle (Arizona), the young Southern Oregon University women’s soccer team appears to be a little ahead of schedule.
Freshman Kaylah Bresee’s first career goal and Ashlynn Hernandez’s goalkeeping helped the Raiders make the Eagles their highest-ranked victims in team history with a 1-0 victory at Simplot Stadium.
The Raiders (3-0) received votes in the NAIA Top 25 preseason poll despite more than three-quarters of their roster consisting of underclassmen. They’ve shut out 10 of their last 11 regular-season opponents dating to last fall, including all three this season.
Their recent success against the NAIA Top 25 continued to mount: Since 2019, they own a 6-3-1 record against nationally ranked opponents in the regular season. They’d gone nine seasons without a Top 25 win before then.
The Eagles (1-1) returned three All-Americans from last year’s team that went 17-2-3 and was among the last 10 teams standing at the NAIA Championships. They were on their heels early against SOU.
Bresee put the Raiders on top 97 seconds into the match, when forward Taytum Curtis found her on a diagonal run from behind and played it over the top into space, assisting a shot that darted into the net.
The Raiders put only one more attempt on goal, but Hernandez made the lead hold with a career-high nine saves.
The shutout was her 16th as a Raider, and the junior has gone 571 minutes on the field since the last time she gave up a goal.
“We stuck to our game plan and battled every second of the way,” SOU head coach Jenni Rosenberg said. “Having been on the road so much has been quite the challenge but we believed in ourselves today and worked for each other all over the field.”
Previously, the highest-ranked team the Raiders had ever defeated was No. 11 Vanguard (California) in 2019. That win, paired with their upset No. 25 Westmont (California), helped the team earn its only national tournament bid.
