CALDWELL — Look at the records, and where the Coyotes are at, and you might not notice just how much of a roller-coaster season it's been for the College of Idaho women's soccer team.

Coming off a first-ever trip to the Cascade Conference tournament finale last year, the Yotes set a high goal of returning to that game this year, and Saturday they punched their ticket with a 4-0 rout of Oregon Tech.

"We're extremely excited, but we've put a lot of hard work in, too," C of I coach Niki Taylor said. "We added up the days, we've been together for 80 days and 40 odd training sessions, so we've put the work into it.

"It's a long road back here but I think it's a testament to these guys about how hard they've worked to make it back."

Along the way the Yotes have compiled a program record 14 wins — they're 14-2 — earning their first-ever Top 25 ranking, No. 22 — and set a single-season scoring record with 46 goals, and counting.

But, the Yotes also have done it without senior goalie Sadie Hughes, who hasn't played since a 4-0 win over Northwest Nazarene in mid-September.

They've also been without second-team all-conference forward Macy Egerman, who has been on the bench for all but eight games, returning to the field for Saturday's 4-0 win.

And they've done it with Kelly Hardegree-Ullman in goal for 10 games, a second-team all-conference pick who led the Yotes in points last season with six goals and seven assists.

"It's been just a wild ride this season," Taylor said. "When we lost our goalkeeper at the beginning of the conference season, I thought, we're either going to look back at this and say, wow, that took away what we wanted to do, or we'd look back at it and laugh and say, OK we handled it.

"We just kept pluggin' away and whatever came at us we handled it. We've got 23 girls that are working real hard and working for each other, and so when we've had injuries, we've been able to plug kids in and deal with it. Everyone's stepped up and I couldn't be more proud of them."

'Not a real keeper'

Fifteen minutes into the action Saturday, Kelly Hardegree-Ullman's diving save not only kept the Yotes in the game, but sparked her team to a 4-0 rout of Oregon Tech.

Hardegree-Ullman played some goalie in high school, but was asked to fill in when an injury sidelined the Coyotes starter, Hughes.

In 10 games now, the sophomore is proving she's not just an emergency fill-in as she's posted five shutouts and a .886 save percentage.

"I think part of my success, I definitely have to give credit to the team," she said. "I mean, they really have stepped it up knowing that I'm not a real keeper. I owe it all to them."

Not a real keeper? The stats seems to indicate a different story.

So what's going right?

"I think one of the great things is, one of the things my coaches like about me is I'm really aggressive and that's one of the reasons I do so well in the goal.

"But yeah, it's definitely a team effort."

Game time

The Coyote women will play in the Cascade Conference title game, but when is still up in the air.

The game against No. 7 Concordia is scheduled for Saturday at noon at Simplot Stadium, with the winner earning the league's automatic berth to the NAIA National Tournament.

However, in an attempt to boost the Cascade Conference's standing on the national stage, a petition to move the game to Wednesday, Nov. 11, at noon has been filed. A decision on the petition is still pending.

Why the change?

With the Yotes currently ranked No. 22 and the Cavaliers No. 7, both could garner an at-large bid to the national tournament.

That can only happen if both teams remain ranked, though, and the final NAIA Top 25 poll will be released Tuesday, Nov. 10.

If the teams play the title game on Saturday, the loser could possibly slip far enough in the polls to cost the conference a possible second team at nationals.

Race for nationals

The C of I women's soccer team isn't the only one in the hunt for a national tournament berth this week, as the Northwest Nazarene volleyball team finds itself still in the running for the postseason.

Of course, the Crusaders (13-8) need every win they can get as they remained at No. 9 in last week's West Region poll. The top eight in the poll earn berths to nationals.

Right ahead of NNU is Seattle Pacific in the No. 8 spot, while GNAC front-runner Alaska Anchorage is No. 5.

The Crusaders have a chance to gain some ground with a match at UAA still on the slate, but first they must defend their No. 9 spot as Western Washington heads to Nampa on Thursday.

The Vikings, looking to make up ground, will be eyeing a win over NNU as a perfect opportunity, asthey sit at No. 10 in the poll.