HELENA, Mont. - Championship season is officially here, and both the Carroll Men's and Women's Soccer teams will begin their respective quests for a Cascade Collegiate Conference Championship with quarterfinal action on Saturday in Medford, Ore.

The Carroll Women (7-4-6, 6-2-4) are up first on Quarterfinal Saturday, taking on Rocky Mountain College (8-8, 8-4) at 11 a.m. (MST), while the Carroll Men (9-5-2, 8-3-1) will play a 5 p.m. night cap against Oregon Tech (6-5-7, 4-5-3).

On the Women's side of the action, the Fighting Saints have been regulars at the annual Championship event, having qualified for postseason play every year dating back to 2017. However, the Saints have not won the tournament since 2016. Carroll joined the league in 2015, making a splash with back-to-back conference regular season and tournament titles in 2015 and '16, and are hungry for their first trophy in a decade.

Carroll enters the event as the sixth-seed, finishing the regular season with 22 points - two back of a three-way tie for third. They'll take on their in-state rivals, the Battlin' Bears, who enter the tournament with the third seed by way of tiebreakers. The Bears appeared well on their way to capturing the CCC regular season title, but were forced to forfeit several games due to the playing of an ineligible student-athlete.

This is the third time that the Saints and Bears have squared-off in the CCC Championship, and all three prior matchups have gone to extra time. Carroll dropped a heartbreaker in double-overtime, 1-0, the last time they met back in 2024, but earned a pair of wins in 2016 and 2018 in penalty kicks.

Over on the Men's side of the action, the Saints secured the second seed for this week's championship, overcoming some shaky early season performances. They'll begin their quest for a return to the title match and their first CCC tournament championship with a quarterfinal against the seventh-seeded Owls of Oregon Tech. Carroll won the regular season meeting in Klamath Falls, Oregon earlier this year, 4-1

The opening round matchup between the Saints and the Owls marks the fourth consecutive season that the pair will have squared-off at the conference championship. OIT picked up a 3-1 quarterfinal win in Head Coach Austin Shick's first season at the helm, 2023, but the Saints own back-to-back wins in the semifinals and quarterfinals over the last two years.

Carroll has advanced to the Conference title match each of the last two seasons, and have their sights set on both returning, and winning in this year's event.

Saturday morning's tilt between the Saints and Battlin' Bears will take place on Field 12 at the Lithia & Driveway Field, while the Men's game against OIT will take place on Wheeler Field.