CCC STANDINGS | SOU STREAMING | OIT STREAMING

GREAT FALLS, Mont. – It is mathematically possible for the University of Providence women's soccer team to lose its playoff spot in the final regular season weekend, but odds are good for the Lady Argos to return to the Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament. With 15 total points and a record of 6-7 (5-4), UP currently sits in a three-way tie for fifth place in the CCC standings with the top eight teams making the postseason.

A win in one of the team's final two games will clinch a playoff berth, but even if the team was to lose both games they would probably still make it. There are two scenarios that could knock the Lady Argos out of the playoffs.

The first, and easier to digest, would be two losses or a loss and a tie for UP, along with at least one win for the College of Idaho (13 points) and two wins  for  Carroll College (11 points). In the CCC,  a win counts  for 3 points and a tie counts for 1 point, while a loss is 0 points.

The second and much more convoluted situation would be if UP loses both games, Northwest University loses both of its games and Carroll ties in its two games. Were that to happen, those three teams would end up all tied at 15 points with just two playoff spots left open. The first tiebreak would be head-to-head record, and each team is 1-1 against the other two. The next tiebreaker is goals allowed in conference play and UP has let up 17 goals to CC's 12, and NU's 6.

All of that will be irrelevant if UP can just win one of its two games.

First  up will be Southern Oregon University who also has 15 points (8-7, 5-4). The two programs have a short history, but when they have faced, it hasn't gone the Lady Argo's way. UP is 0-2 all-time against the Raiders, but both contests were decided by just 1 goal.

While the Lady Argos have been winning games on grit and an opportunistic offense that ranks eighth in the conference in both shots and shots on goal, but ranks second in goals per game, SOU has had a more balanced approach.

Southern Oregon doesn't rank in the top 5 in any statistical category in the conference, but rank between sixth and eighth out of 12 teams in just about every area. Despite having a winning record, the Raiders have allowed more goals than they have scored in both conference and non-conference play.

Offensively, SOU has been balanced with 11 different players scoring during the 2017 season and none scoring more than 4 times. For some comparison, the Lady Argos have had 7 different players score and 13 of the team's 22 goals on the year have come from either sophomore forward Eme McLaughlin (7) or junior midfielder Sydney Knieriem (6).

UP's game against SOU will be on the road and will be a rare night game. Kickoff is set for 8:00 p.m. MST in Ashland, Oregon on Friday, October 27.

The late start against SOU will mean an unusually fast turnaround for UP's second game of the weekend. That game will in Klamath Falls, Oregon against Oregon Tech at 3:00 p.m. MST. The Argos have a  longer  history against the Owls than they do against Southern Oregon and despite an all-time record of 1-2-2, the recent history has been good.

In 2015, the two teams battled to a 2-2 tie in Klamath Falls and then in 2016, the Lady Argos earned their third win of the season 2-0 over the Owls. McLaughlin scored both goals for the only multi-goal game of her career.

The 2017 version of the Oregon Tech squad has been strong and already has a playoff spot sewn up with 18 points and a record of 9-5-1 (6-2-1). OIT is led by junior forward Cassidy Gosvener who, like McLaughlin, has 7 goals and 1 assist  on  the year. Those 7 goals have come in big moments too, with 4  game winning  goals.

After Gosvener, there is no true standout offensively on the team with 7 other goal scorers all totaling 3 goals or fewer on the year.