Varsity 541

Orr comes up big in Crater win

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ASHLAND — Crater supplied all the scoring, for better and worse, and received some excellent defensive play by goalkeeper Katie Orr to earn a key Southern Sky Conference victory on Saturday.

Orr withstood a flurry of attacks by Ashland and the Comets did just enough offensively to slip by the host Grizzlies 2-1 in a battle of the conference's lone unbeaten girls soccer teams.

"Katie Orr had an awesome game," said Crater coach Ed Lindbloom. "Without Katie we would've easily lost 3-2 or 4-2. She played a very good game."

Ashland outshot Crater (4-4-1, 3-0 SSC) roughly 15-7, but most of those efforts came from long distance as the Comets packed it in defensively to deny the Grizzlies (5-4, 3-1).

"We had enough opportunities that the keeper was saving on the line left and right," said Ashland coach Eric Wolff. "We had a lot of crosses right in front of the goal there, we just weren't able to get ourselves clear enough to get a good enough shot off."

Crater struck first in the 23rd minute when Kinsey Parker took a shot from 30 yards out that was deflected by Ashland goalkeeper Rinchen Thomas but redirected into the goal on a tough angle by Kayla Burns.

The Comets found the net again in the 46th minute, but this time in the Grizzlies' favor on an own goal. Kai Yearsley put the ball in motion for Ashland with a corner kick that, thanks to some miscommunication, wound up being deflected into the net on a header by a Crater player.

"It was a miscommunication," said Lindbloom. "The defender went up to head it but thought she heard the goalkeeper call for the ball. She tried to pull her head into her shoulders like a turtle but she was already a little too high and the ball hit off her."

After weathering another Ashland storm in the second half, Crater took the lead for good in the 64th minute when Kayla Burns took a pass from Caitlin Sprenger and hit a low liner from 25 yards out that skipped just under Thomas for the game-winner.

"She just hit a bullet of a shot to the far corner and it skipped right past the goalkeeper," said Lindbloom.

EAGLE POINT 5, KLAMATH UNION 1 — At Klamath Falls, Erica Rasor scored a hat trick as Eagle Point used four second-half goals to earn the Southern Sky win.

Rasor and Klamath Union's Elizabeth Albertson each scored in the first half, but two straight goals to open the second half by Rasor broke the game open for the Eagles (3-4-2, 2-1 SSC).

Sarah Lilley added a goal after a nice pass from Tiffany Burke and Marissa O'Connor hit a header into the net off a corner kick by Rasor. O'Connor also assisted an earlier goal by Rasor off an indirect kick.

District 6

ST. MARY'S 3, NORTH VALLEY 2 — At Merlin, St. Mary's led 3-0 at halftime, then had to hold off North Valley (6-2, 5-2 Dist. 6) for the win at Knights Coliseum.

Kelsey Gross headed in a corner kick served up by Anna Thorndike in the 15th minute.

Junior forward Sarah Seus finished off a rebound of a shot by Thorndike to put the Crusaders (9-1, 7-1 Dist. 6) ahead 2-0 almost midway through the half.

Seus, St. Mary's leading scorer, tallied again on a run created by quick passing from Nikki Steinsiek and Mackenzie Krieser in the 31st minute.

In the second half, Trisha Durham scored on a direct kick in the 65th minute, then Nicole Goens cut the Knights' deficit to 3-2 with about eight minutes remaining.

Durham almost tied the game in the final minute when her header off a corner kick hit the crossbar.

ROGUE RIVER 2, CASCADE CHRISTIAN 1 — Cascade Christian grabbed the initial lead but short-handed Rogue River rallied behind two goals by Jessa Fricke at Fichtner-Mainwaring Park.

The Chieftains could only field 10 players in the district match, but played with more of a sense of urgency than the Challengers.

Cascade Christian senior midfielder Anabel Purczer drove a low shot into the corner of the net from about 33 yards in the 20th minute to give the Challengers (3-6, 2-5 Dist. 6) a 1-0 advantage.

Rogue River answered just one minute later when Fricke took a through ball from Laura Bennett and scored from 15 yards out.

Cascade Christian had the better possession as the opening period ended in a 1-1 tie.

The Chieftains got the game-winner early in the second half off a header by Fricke from a crossing pass by Allison Coulter.

HENLEY 2, PHOENIX 0 — At Talent, Henley outshot Phoenix 24-1 and scored two first-half goals to trounce the Pirates at Colver Field.

The Hornets received unassisted goals from Karli Berg and Alysa Castle in the 30th and 32nd minutes, respectively.