For the first time in its four-year history, the Southern Oregon men’s soccer team is nationally ranked.
Two players from Clark County have played a role in that success.
Ahmon Afenegus, a senior from Mountain View, scored his first goal of the season in a 2-0 win over Warner Pacific on Saturday. He also had an assist in the win, which boosted the Raiders to 10-2-1 overall and 7-0-1 in the Cascade Conference.
Mitchell Pinney, a senior from Hockinson, had an assist in SOU’s 5-1 win over Multnomah University on Friday.
Tuesday, Southern Oregon debuted in the NAIA national poll at No. 24.
Afenegus is the son of Biniam Afenegus, a former Clark College coach who was Southern Oregon’s inaugural coach in 2015. He now coaches George Fox.
Afenegus, a midfielder, was an honorable-mention all-conference selection as a freshman in 2015 and second-team as a sophomore.
This season, Afenegus has started nine of 13 matches, totalling three assists and helping the Raiders outscore their opponents 39-7.
Pinney joined Southern Oregon as a sophomore after a season in junior college. An honorable-mention all-conference selection last season, he has four goals and five assists this year and was named conference offensive player of the week two weeks ago.
Men’s Soccer
• Jake Kempf, a senior from Camas, scored his second goal of the season in Gonzaga’s 3-2 loss to Portland on Saturday.
• Christian Tyron, a junior from Prairie, scored his first goal of the season in Concordia’s 3-1 loss to Saint Martin’s on Thursday.
• Ben Stevenson, a senior from Prairie, helped The Evergreen State College shut out Walla Walla 4-0 on Friday, then made five saves in a 2-2 draw against Eastern Oregon on Sunday.
• Brandon Wolter, a redshirt freshman from Union, made five saves as Western Washington beat Northwest Nazarene 5-0 on Friday, lowering his goals-against average to 0.98.
• JD Ellis, a freshman from Camas, had his first win as goalkeeper for George Fox, helping shut out Pacific 2-0 on Sunday.
Women’s Soccer
• Taryn Ries, a sophomore from Ridgefield, had her second hat trick of the season in Portland’s 4-1 win over University of the Pacific on Sunday. She also scored a goal in a 3-0 win over Saint Mary’s on Friday. She is the first Pilot to have multiple hat tricks in a season since 2009. Her 13 goals in 15 games ranks top-10 in the nation.
• Ellie Walker, a sophomore from Columbia River, had two assists in Portland’s 3-0 win over Saint Mary’s on Friday. The defender has helped the Pilots (10-5-0, 3-1-0) outscore opponents 25-12.
• Phoebe Bunn, a freshman from Evergreen, scored her first goal in Pacific Lutheran’s 1-1 draw against Willamette on Saturday.
• Rebecca Harris, a junior from Skyview, has helped the defense for No. 10 Concordia, which has allowed just one goal in the past seven matches.
• Kiani Pandoliano, a freshman from Union, had a goal and two assists in Southern Oregon’s 9-0 win over Multnomah University on Friday.
Volleyball
• Olivia Coale, a senior from Skyview, had a combined 21 digs in Washington State’s wins over Arizona and Arizona State last week. The No. 22-ranked Cougars improved to 13-3 overall, 4-2 in the Pac-12.
• Brooke Van Sickle, a redshirt sophomore from Battle Ground, had a combined 17 digs in Oregon’s straight-set wins over UCLA and USC last week. The No. 20-ranked Ducks are 11-5 overall and 4-2 in the Pac-12.
• Tessa Doerfler, a sophomore from Prairie, had 12 digs as Linfield snapped a seven-match losing streak by beating Whitman on Saturday.
• Ashley Watkins, a junior from Battle Ground, had a combined 79 assists, 16 digs and five kills in Montana’s two matches last week — a five-set win over Southern Utah and a three-set loss to Northern Arizona.
• Hannah Lord, a sophomore from Heritage, had a combined 18 kills in Northwest University’s wins over Walla Walla and The Evergreen State College last week.
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