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6A Monday, November 4, 2019 The Observer Mountaineers give C of I all it can handle in 24-17 loss By Ronald Bond The Observer The Eastern Oregon University football team gave Frontier Conference-leading and sixth-ranked College of Idaho all it could han- dle, and gave itself a shot at the upset Saturday at Community Stadium. The Mountaineers led 14-7 at halftime, were tied 14-14 after three quarters and had a chance, trailing by seven in the final minute of the game — a marked improvement from the season-opening 48-12 loss to the same Coyotes. But third-quarter offensive struggles and a strong second half by C of I offensively were enough to allow the Yotes to escape with a 24-17 victory. “That was a dogfight. We went a little bit dim in the third quarter offensively. We got a lot of kids playing out there who are fresh- men, sophomores and juniors,” head coach Tim Camp said of his team against the senior-laden Yotes. “Pretty proud of them.” It was the third time in three weeks EOU has been within a touchdown of its opponent in the fourth quarter. Eastern has lost those three contests by six, 13 and now seven points, but Camp commended his team for the effort in all three games. “Three games in a row where you’re close,” he said. “I don’t like to be close, but at the same time, I love how the kids played. They were just playing football. You got a good rivalry game.” The Mountaineers were the aggressors early and often against C of I. EOU scored on its second possession on a 1-yard touchdown run by Victor Dias for a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter, while defensively the Moun- taineers held C of I’s powerful offense in check. C of I was forced to punt on its first four See Football / Page 7A Men’s soccer rolls into CCC playoffs on winning streak Ronald Bond/The Observer Eastern Oregon’s Cambree Scott, left, and Megan Bunn, center, try to block a kill attempt by Southern Oregon Friday at Quinn Coliseum. The Mountaineers fell in five sets to the visiting Raiders. Raiders stun EOU in five By Ronald Bond The Observer For the second time this season, the No. 3 Eastern Oregon University volley- ball team went the distance in a thriller against a top-10 opponent at home. This time, however, the Mountaineers fell short in the dramatic battle. Eastern saw a two-set lead disappear and watched No. 9 Southern Oregon grab the final three points in an electri- fying fifth set to steal the match, 23-25, 14-25, 25-16, 25-23, 17-15, Friday night at a raucous Quinn Coliseum. “Long story short, it was a great match,” EOU head coach Kaki McLean- Morehead said. “Great match to watch, great match to play, great match to see. What it came down to was we played great the first two sets, and then we didn’t take advantage of some opportu- nities that we had in the third and the fourth. We can’t wait until the fifth to respond. We have to do our jobs a little bit sooner in the match.” Neither team had a major edge in the wild final set, one that was tied 10 times, saw the lead change hands five times and witnessed both teams have match point. Southern had the largest lead in the set, 11-8, on a Taylor Ristvedt kill. EOU battled back to tie the score at 11-11 on a kill by Megan Bunn, an ace by Kiley McMurtrey and a back-row kill from Sade Williams. A kill by Maddie Pernich briefly gave Southern match point at 14-13, but Taylor Tibbetts and Jet Taylor combined for a block to even the match on a point where the ball — last touched by SOU — roll tantalizingly across the net before falling out of bounds. Tibbetts then had a kill to give EOU match point at 15-14. But Southern got the last say, retaking the lead on kills by Makayla Hoyt and Elliott Cook before Pernich ended the match with a block. “There were some things consistency wise that we didn’t carry over, and we really needed to take advantage of those opportunities and in transition,” McLean- Morehead said. “We played it safe instead of playing to win in certain situations, and we really have to do a better job of going for broke on game point.” The loss was a painful one for EOU to take. A win combined with a victory in one of its final three matches would have given the Mountaineers the Cascade Collegiate Conference title. “It hurts, but that’s why there are peaks and valleys in a season, and we will learn from this in some way and it will make us better,” McLean-Morehead said. It was the second time this season the rival schools had gone five sets, and both reached the distance in a similar fashion, with Eastern winning the first two sets and Southern taking the middle two before the road team grabbed the final. This match — at least early — didn’t seem like it had a chance to go five. Eastern built a five-point first-set lead, then held on for the opening-set win on an SOU attack error. The Mountaineers then followed with a dominant effort in the second, break- ing open a close set with an 8-0 run to go ahead 22-12 on a Cambree Scott block. Another block later by Scott and Tibbetts finished off the second and gave Eastern a two-set lead. The Raiders used a 9-0 run to take control of the third set and get back in the match, but Eastern looked primed to end the bout in four. Two straight kills by Bunn — who had a career-best 24 kills on the night — capped an early 6-0 run in the fourth. Eastern eventually See EOU / Page 7A Eastern women finish second in CCC By Ronald Bond The Observer Ronald Bond/The Observer Kaitlyn McLeod, left, had a goal on both Saturday and Sunday for the Eastern Oregon women’s soccer team. The Eastern Oregon Uni- versity women’s soccer team finished the regular season with a pair of dominant wins and will head into the Cascade Collegiate Conference tourna- ment as the No. 2 seed. Five different players scored as the Mountaineers rolled past Warner Pacific Saturday, 5-0, and seven players scored in an 11-0 rout of Multnomah Sunday — led by a hat trick from Nan Kiebert and two goals from both Morgan Farrington and Mackinley Gregus. EOU head coach Jacob Plocher said after Saturday’s win that the team played with some extra energy after a loss to Northwest last week resulted in the Mountaineers dropping completely out of the top 25. “We needed a game to say, ‘This is us,’” he said. “It definitely lit a fire in our girls (in) that we feel we still are a top 10 team. Obviously there (have) been some bounces here or there that haven’t gone our way, but if that refo- cuses us, then we’ll take it.” Eastern scored three goals in 12 minutes to take control of its match against Warner Pacific Saturday. Kiebert put in what proved to be the game-winner in the 29th min- ute on a penalty kick. Cailin Koupal followed with a goal a minute later for a 2-0 edge, and Mikenna Rasmussen found the net in the 41st for a 3-0 edge at the half. It wrapped a dominant half by EOU, one that saw it put 19 shots up, and 11 on goal. The Mountaineers finished the night with 35 shot attempts, See Women / Page 7A Ronald Bond/The Observer Calvin Mitchell, left, and Elvis Pavon celebrate after Pavon’s first half goal against Warner Pacific Saturday. By Ronald Bond The Observer In two weeks, the Eastern Oregon University men’s soccer team went from seem- ingly having no chance at the postseason to storming into the Cascade Collegiate Conference tournament on a five-game winning streak. “It’s been really nice seeing the potential start to come out,” EOU head coach Zach Mills said. “The big part of it is mentality. That’s it. Drop- ping the negatively, working together, working as a family, having positive energy and going hard, knowing every game is a cup final.” Alexander Zuluaga scored a pair of second-half goals to lead the Mountaineers to a 3-0 win over Warner Pacific on Saturday, and Eastern wrapped up the regular sea- son with its fifth win in a row, pounding Multnomah on Sunday, 9-0, behind two goals apiece from Micah Hill, Pat- rick Larsen and Josh Ebel. Both contests were played at Community Stadium. “I know this is the team we were supposed to be at the start of the season,” Zuluaga said. Elvis Pavon scored what ended up being the only goal EOU needed just five min- utes into the match Saturday night, connecting on a shot from about 15 yards out for a 1-0 lead, which Eastern held until the break. “I love the blast,” Mills said of Pavon’s goal. “He honestly could have passed it in, but he really made sure. He hit it hard and clean.” But Eastern, which has had its share of dramatic one- goal outcomes this season, didn’t need another one as it continued to fight for its play- off life. Zuluaga made sure that wouldn’t happen, scoring in the 58th and 67th minute to put EOU in command. Keeper Max Rose did the rest, registering four saves to help preserve the shutout for the Mountaineers. “Defensively really proud of the guys. That was our goal. We wanted the shut- out,” Mills said. On Sunday, Hill and Lars- en each scored twice in the first half to help EOU build a 4-0 lead at the break. Goals by Alex Gutierrez and Felipe Madero made it 6-0 in the 49th minute, and Jack Rose added a goal sandwiched between Ebel’s two tallies. The two victories cap an impressive late-season rally for the Mountaineers. Eastern was staring at a 2-6 record in CCC play after an See Men / Page 10A Eagles fall in title game Observer staff The Joseph Eagles saw a familiar opponent in the 6-man championship game — South Wasco County. This time, though, it was the Redsides who came away with a close victory. South Wasco held Joseph without a touchdown in the second half and broke a 6-6 tie at the break to earn a 19-6 victory over the Eagles Saturday night in Madras to claim the 6-man champi- onship. “South Wasco played a (heck) of a game,” head coach Duncan Christman said. The Redsides had been the only team to stay close to Joseph in the two years since 6-man football returned, but had come up short in those two match- ups — a 27-16 road loss in 2018 and a 25-13 home loss this season. But the third time proved to be the charm for South Wasco. See Joseph / Page 8A