Men's Live Stats l Women's Live Stats

SPRINGFIELD, Ore. –  If there is one thing that both Carroll Soccer teams have become familiar with it is the inside of the bus. The Saints have made three trips to the other side of the Cascade Mountains past month. Tuesday they again made their way to Oregon for the first-ever appearances in the Cascade Conference Tournament.
 
The Carroll women enter the tournament with the No. 1 seed and little pressure after winning the regular season and securing a trip to the NAIA National Tournament.
 
The Saints do have motivation, Carroll's 9-1-1 Cascade record has just two blemishes, one came from the University of Great Falls in a scoreless draw played at Nelson Stadium with 50 mile an hour winds. The two teams are located just sixty miles apart but travel over 800 miles to meet on the pitch in the quarterfinals.
 
"We may play in a little bit of rain but hopefully it won't 50 MPH winds," head coach David Thorvilson said. "The girls are excited to face a team that we didn't have our best result against. They look forward to having a better showing."
 
Carroll will play in the NAIA Tournament but the Saints would love to come home with a conference tournament championship.
 
"They are very excited to be the regular season champion but they aren't satisfied," Thorvilson said. They want it bad and the pressure changes a little bit as a team. This is going to be a great prep for the NAIA tournament knowing that next week we are going to have to play our best game."
 
The Carroll men closed the regular season with five wins and a draw in the final six matches of the season. The Saints seem to be peaking at the right time and head coach Doug Mello hopes his team continues on the upswing.
 
"We have to be encouraged by a six-match unbeaten streak," Mello said. "You want to peak at the end of the season and I think we are doing that. Our last four matches have been like playoff games trying to improve our standing for the conference tournament and we've stepped up and gotten it done."
 
Carroll's strong play over the last few weeks begins with the defense, the Saints allowed just four goals in the six games and tallied three shutouts.
 
"Cojo (goalkeeper Conor Smith) has played well all season but he certainly stepped it in the last few games," Mello said. "Our lineup has been consistent since about mid-season and they are really active on the back line knocking things away. It has set the tone for the whole team
 
The Saints, the No. 5 seed, face fourth-seeded Evergreen in the quarterfinals. The Saints topped the Geoducks 2-0 in the regular season. It was the first time that Evergreen had been shutout all season. The win was the first of the unbeaten streak.
 
"When we played Evergreen we got the result that we wanted and we were the more potent of the two teams," Mello said. "We hope to have the same outcome but they are a good team and it will be a tough match."
 
A big factor will be how the Saints deal with the travel time. While the Saints traveled for the better part of two days, the Geoducks had much more manageable four-hour drive.
 
"The hardest thing is that we are on a long trip and we haven't had time this week to get any practice," Mello said. "It isn't Ideal but we will work with it."
 
The Carroll men play at 12 p.m. MDT while the women play 9 p.m. MDT. All games will be played at the Willamalane Soccer Complex in Springfield, Ore.