North, Avila propel Panthers into semifinals

November 15, 2009
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SALEM — The South Medford boys soccer team has made quite the transformation in recent weeks.

Last year's Southwest Conference champions, the Panthers had underachieved to start the season, falling victim to a few blowout losses.

Now the Panthers seem to be peaking at the right moment with the help of emerging freshman goalkeeper Mitch North.

North posted his third-straight shutout and Brian Avila scored in the 53rd minute in Saturday's Class 6A state quarterfinal as the Panthers topped host West Salem, 1-0.

The Panthers (12-5) will host Jesuit in the semifinals on Tuesday at Spiegelberg Stadium.

"We're the team to beat," said Dave Kaufman. "The losses we had early in the season have been all teachable moments for the team and the problems we were having I think have been solved. I'm proud of the leadership the guys have been showing."

After the Panthers missed multiple scoring chances in the first half, Kory Kellum found an open Avila, who got behind the defense and obliged with a 12-yard shot which found the back of the net on the far left post.

From there, West Salem was corralled out of Panther territory, but when the Titans were able to break free, North was there.

"He's been dominating his area, acting like he's been there before, and he's only a freshman," said Kaufman of North. "If we can continue to ride the heels of that, we're gonna be tough to beat.

"Seasons have ebbs and flows and we've had some low moments and teams can crumble when they get to that point. It's just a matter of putting it all together."

Class 5A

BEND 3, ASHLAND 1 — At Bend, in a battle of co-11th ranked teams, Ashland, the top seed from the Southern Sky Conference, had its hands full with Bend in the Class 5A state quarterfinals.

Bend played nearly flawless soccer and set the tone with goals in the 27th and 32nd minutes to build a 2-0 lead in the first half. The Lava Bears advance to play Mountain View in the semifinals.

The Lava Bears went up 3-0 in the 52nd minute when Austin Crook scored the second of his two goals.

Adam Pavlich connected on the lone goal for Grizzlies (9-6-1) from two yards out in the second half.

Class 4A

MCLOUGHLIN 1, PHOENIX 0 — At Milton-Freewater, Oscar Flores scored the game-winner in the 66th minute of the Class 4A state quarterfinal.

Flores poked the ball away from a Phoenix defender, who couldn't corral the ball on the bumpy football field, Phoenix coach Dennis Flenner said. Flores then kicked the ball, which deflected off Pirates goalkeeper Carlos Mena before slipping into the goal.

The loss ends the season for Phoenix (14-1), which entered the game with 13 consecutive shutouts and only allowed two goals all season.

Class 3A/2A/1A

ST. MARY'S 4, PORTLAND CHRISTIAN 2 — At Gladstone, Harrison Leep scored a pair of second-half goals and Jesus Aruno had a goal and an assist as St. Mary's dethroned the defending state champion in the state playoff quarterfinals.

St. Mary's (13-3) returns to the semifinals for the first time since 2006 and hosts Catlin Gabel Tuesday at U.S. Cellular Park.

Aruno, a sophomore forward, gave the Crusaders a 1-0 lead on a goal from six yards out in the 12th minute. Aruno one-touched in a crossing pass from Lou Arne.

Despite dominating the opening half, St. Mary's had to settle for a 1-all tie when Portland Christian scored with 30 seconds remaining in the period.

In the first 40 minutes, the Crusaders outshot the Royals, 8-2, and had a 5-0 advantage in corner kicks.

Just one minute into the second half, Mark Raniele drilled a shot past Royals' keeper Keegan Rogers from eight yards away off a direct kick from Reid Arne.

Then Leep, a sophomore, connected on a breakaway to increase the Crusaders' margin to 3-1 at the 53rd minute.

Portland Christian cut the deficit to 3-2 at the 65th minute but Leep scored again off Aruno's assist to complete the scoring.

The Crusaders received outstanding defensive performances from Raniele and senior sweeper Elliott Coughlin.