Photo by Sean Jeter
Raider captain Alex White fights to protect the ball against two Dominican defenders. White has scored 40 goals on the has 31 assists.

Looking to make a push into the postseason the Raiders offense could not be denied Friday afternoon in Ashland.

Southern Oregon scored an 11-6 victory against Dominican University of California at Ashland Middle School.

The Raiders are now 11-1 and have climbed to the No. 9 ranking in the MCLA Lax Magazine Division II poll.

The Raiders we lead by junior Lawrence “Bubba” VanEgdom who scored a game-high five goals.

“Bubba is the leader of the bunch,” said assistant coach Kevin Ankrum. “He’s a huge motivator and all our guys feed off him.”

The Raiders held a 7-3 halftime lead over the Penguins with VanEgdom and senior captain Alex White each scoring two goals.

Dominican looked to shorten the Raiders lead behind a quick goal from freshman Corey Botwinick to cut the score at 7-4. But SOU put the pressure back on as sophomore Mike Hughes scored minutes later to put the Raiders back up by four.

The Penguins started to break down Southerns’ defense late in the third quarter behind back-to-back goals by captain Nardi Lawrence to cut the Raiders lead to just two.

“We had too many penalties and we’re playing a man down a lot,” said Ankrum.

Bent but not broken the Raiders offense turned again to VanEgdom as he netted his fourth goal of the game giving them a three point advantage at the end of the third period.

Southern looked to control the momentum and pace of the game with their defense holding the Penguins scoreless in the final period.

White finished with three goals in the game, while Hughes finished with two.

“We’ve been working hard this week, and are trying to peak at the right time,” VanEgdom said.