South blanks Axemen, sets up showdown

October 15, 2008
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EUGENE — With a pivotal Southwest Conference showdown with Sheldon up next, the South Medford girls soccer team didn't overlook South Eugene on Tuesday.

Instead, the Panthers used their entire arsenal and thumped the Axemen, 4-0.

The Panthers (7-4-1, 6-2 SWC) are in a deadlock with Sheldon for first place in the SWC. The two square off in Eugene Saturday in the next-to-last league match.

South Medford was slow to get on the board until Anna Sours weaved her way past a pair of defenders and broke through with a goal at the 33-minute mark.

Three minutes later, Rachel Fortunati fed an open Becca Viets to give the Panthers a 2-0 edge at the intermission.

Fortunati would collect her second assist just three minutes into the second half, and it was a sensational one at that. On a throw-in, Fortunati used a bicycle kick to relay the ball over a defender and set up a cutting Katie Littleton in front of the goal for an easy tap in.

"Yeah, it was pretty," said Panthers coach Terry Fretz of Fortunati's play. "She tried one earlier in the half, but it didn't work. I guess she just had it on her mind and tried it again."

The Panther defense was perhaps even more impressive.

Thanks to the back line, South Medford yielded just three shots. All came from more than 30 yards and skipped to the feet of the Panthers' goalkeepers.

"Our defense just cleaned everything out," said Fretz. "We have so much speed in the back. They were just making it impossible for them to do anything.

"We'll let them shoot from that far because we have two goalies that make you not even have to worry about it."

Goalkeepers Ana Tozier and Amanda Carraway had first- and second-half duty, respectively, to combine for the shutout.

Danielle Green notched the Panthers' final goal on a pass from Rebecca Nisbet in the 67th minute.

NORTH MEDFORD 2, ROSEBURG 1 — At Roseburg, North Medford won the SWC contest that featured two goals in the final two minutes.

Roseburg's Chelsie Heberling crossed a ball to the back post that was headed in by Shae Yuma with two minutes left to tie at 1-1. It took the Tornado 30 seconds to reclaim the lead, Sarah Chambers scoring her second goal by dribbling around three defenders and hammering home the winner.

Chambers gave North (6-4-1, 5-2-1 SWC) an early lead when she scored off an assist from Jessica Reid in the 25th minute.

SHELDON 2, GRANTS PASS 0 — At Grants Pass, the Grants Pass defense didn't allow Sheldon much breathing room, but a Taylor Housley penalty kick in the 68th minute put the Irish on the board in the SWC match at Mel Ingram Field.

Holly Anderson's goal six minutes later closed the door on the Cavers (5-6-1, 3-4-1 SWC).

Grants Pass was outshot 9-4,

Southern Sky

CRATER 3, MAZAMA 0 — At Central Point, Caitlin Sprenger scored a goal and added an assist to keep Crater undefeated in Southern Sky Conference play.

Sprenger fed Kayla Burns in the 35th minute and bent her corner kick into the goal in the 38th minute. Kayla Ford scored the final goal on a free kick from 40 yards in the 55th minute for Crater (7-3-2, 6-0 SSC).

Crater goalkeeper Katie Orr notched her fourth shutout of the season and third straight.

ASHLAND 6, EAGLE POINT 0 — At Eagle Point, sophomore Riley Smith and freshman Taylor Zehren each scored a pair of goals as Ashland won the Southern Sky Conference match.

Raven Susu-Mago and Jubilee Sharpe also added goals for Ashland (7-4, 5-1 SSC), which outshot Eagle Point 11-4. Sarah Lilley had three shots on goal for the Eagles (3-6-2, 1-4 SSC).

District 6

ST. MARY'S 2, PHOENIX 0 — At Phoenix, Mackenzie Krieser scored in the 10th minute on an assist from Alyx Irvine and Abby Steinsiek added an unassisted goal in the 58th minute for St. Mary's.

Lindsay Barnum played a strong defensive match for the first-place Crusaders (10-1, 8-1 District 6).

HIDDEN VALLEY 3, ROGUE RIVER 0 — At Rogue River, Jessie Hanger provided Hidden Valley with a pair of goals and the Mustangs did the rest with their air-tight defense.

Hanger scored on passes from Katie Figoni and Matti Lindgren, 21 and 70 minutes into the match, respectively.

The Mustangs (9-2, 7-2 District 6) took a 2-0 lead in the 26th minute on a goal by Lindgren which was set up by Dana Powell.

Mustang defenders Lindsay Guevara, Ellie Misner and Jennifer Carter assisted in Figoni's shutout in goal by limiting the Chieftains to just two shots on goal.

HENLEY 2, NORTH VALLEY 1 — At Klamath Falls, Henley played strong offensively and never trailed in the win.

Henley's Alusa Castle opened the scoring by driving a shot into the corner of the net off an assist from Jordin Scholer in the 37th minute. Scholer doubled the advantage in the 60th minute when she scored on an assist from Karli Berg.

Taylor Vandehey scored for North Valley with two minutes left off a penalty kick.