Panthers remain tied atop SWC

October 12, 2008
Text Size: A | A | A
Print this Article Print this Article
Email this Article Email this Article
Respond to this Article Respond to this Article

Practice made perfect for the South Medford girls soccer team on Saturday and, in the process, helped put the Panthers in prime position in the Southwest Conference race with their third straight win.

South Medford scored on a pair of nice crosses from the corner and held on for a 2-1 victory over Grants Pass at Spiegelberg Stadium to remain tied with Sheldon atop the SWC standings.

"It's going to come right down to the wire," said South coach Terry Fretz of the title chase. "We told the girls we control our destiny since the worst we can do is tie for first if we win out."

The Panthers improved to 5-2 in SWC play and 6-4-1 overall after taking some work on the practice field to Saturday's game.

Rachel Fortunati scored in the 48th minute after Becca Viets sent a crossing pass from the corner over the defense and right to an opportunistic Fortunati. Five minutes later, South scored a duplicate goal when Anna Sours made her way to the corner and sent a pass to Danielle Green, who flicked the cross into the net.

"We've been working on getting balls down to the corner to try to pull the sweep out of there," said Fretz of the set plays.

"There was great concentration on both of those goals (from Fortunati and Green) because both crosses were on top of the defenders."

Jessica Bath scored on a penalty kick in the 72nd minute for Grants Pass despite a great effort by South goalie Amanda Carraway.

"She guessed right and it actually hit her right hand but she just didn't get enough on it," said Fretz.

NORTH MEDFORD 0, SOUTH EUGENE 0 — North Medford's back line denied South Eugene penetration, but the Black Tornado missed out on multiple open scoring opportunities resulting in a SWC stalemate.

Kendra Straub, Alex Kummer and Michelle Benitez kept the Axemen out of Black Tornado (5-4-1, 4-2-1 SWC) territory and North's goalkeeper, Kendra McMillen, came up with three saves.

SHELDON 1, ROSEBURG 0 — At Roseburg, Sheldon was kept at bay in the first half but finally broke through to hand Roseburg (1-9, 1-6 SWC) its fifth one-goal loss of the season.

The Southwest Conference's top offense finally scored in the 62nd minute when Bronte Jorgenson scored an unassisted goal for Sheldon.

Southern Sky

ASHLAND 4, MAZAMA 1 — At Ashland, sophomore striker Riley Smith scored two goals and assisted on another for Ashland at North Mountain Park.

Smith scored in the 12th minute off an assist from Kayla Zehren. Then Smith assisted on a Clara Munro goal in the 19th minute.

Smith scored again five minutes later to put the Grizzlies (7-4, 5-1 SSC) ahead 3-0. Chloe Deckwar provided the assist.

Mazama went into halftime behind 3-1 on a goal off a free kick by Sarah Foltyn late in the period.

Kai Yearsley scored on a free kick in the 48th minute for Ashland.

CRATER 3, KLAMATH UNION 0 — At Klamath Falls, Taylor McGee scored a pair of goals and Katie Orr had four saves for her fourth shutout, and third in SSC play, to pace Crater.

McGee scored on an unassisted breakaway in the fifth minute and again in the 67th minute off a pass from Kinsey Parker.

Kayla Burns scored in the 58th minute for the Comets (6-3-2, 5-0 SSC) off an assist from Ashley Childers.

District 6

ST. MARY'S 2, HIDDEN VALLEY 1 — St. Mary's sophomore striker McKenzie Krieser scored two goals and created opportunities for her teammates in a battle of District 6 leaders at Spiegelberg Stadium.

St. Mary's avenged a 1-0 loss earlier in the season to Hidden Valley and moved into first place in the standings.

The Crusaders (9-1, 7-1 Dist. 6) led 2-0 at halftime, then held off the offensive pressure from the two-time defending state champion Mustangs (7-2, 6-2 Dist. 6).

Krieser converted a penalty kick at the 12th minute. Then Krieser exhibited some deft footwork after receiving a pass at the top of the box and maneuvered inside to crack a shot into the goal under heavy pressure.

The Mustangs cut St. Mary's margin to 2-1 in the 67th minute on a goal by Ariana Fleishman off an assist from Jessie Hanger.

Hidden Valley outshot the Crusaders, 13-8. St. Mary's sophomore goalkeeper Gina Barbieri had nine saves, including two diving stops.

The Crusaders received stalwart defensive performances from Nikki Steinsiek, Hanna Heycke and Abby Steinsiek.

HENLEY 3, CASCADE CHRISTIAN 1, OT — Injury-laden Cascade Christian (3-8, 2-7 Dist. 6) turned in an inspired effort and held Henley scoreless through regulation at Fichtner-Mainwaring Park.

But the Hornets received two goals from Alysa Castle in overtime en route to the victory. Castle scored just two minutes into OT, then gave the Hornets a 2-0 lead early in the second 10-minute session. Just one minute later, Jordin Scholer increased the margin to 3-0.

In the final minute of overtime, Stephanie Smith put a high shot into the net off a through ball from Becky Eustace for the Challengers' lone score.

Henley dominated the shots on goal, 20-4. Cascade Christian sophomore goalie Jenna George made some big saves to keep the Challengers in the match.