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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us November 10, 2004 Grizzlies storm into elite eight By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings His players were begging and so was the crowd, so Ashland High head coach Eisa Tiaa Toutou slipped out of his jacket, then his T-shirt and posed for the cameras with the rest of the bare-chested Grizzlies. Ashland High freshman midfielder Alex Murray goes for the header against two Mountain View defenders during OSAA Class 4A playoff action Tuesday at Ashland Middle School. Photos by Denise Baratta | Ashland Daily Tidings "That's a miracle," Tiaa Toutou said. "All the kids looking at me, all the parents looking at me, (thinking) is this African going to be crazy enough. But if I'm willing to coach them, I'm willing to do whatever they want after they win." From the looks of things, Tiaa Toutou may be fielding more requests in the near future. Thomas Golding scored two goals and Fabian Garcia-Flores added a goal and an assist as Ashland crushed eighth-ranked Mountain View 5-0 Tuesday at Ashland Middle School. The blowout advances the Grizzlies to the quarterfinals of the OSAA Class 4A boys soccer state championships, where they will travel to face 10th-ranked Central Catholic, a 1-0 winner Tuesday night over Wilson, on Saturday. "We don't know if the other teams are the same or not, so we don't know what to expect," said Garcia-Flores, who last week was named the Southern Oregon Conference player of the year. "But, all we've got to do is play our top and we can challenge anybody." Blowout city If the Grizzlies play the way they did Tuesday, it may not matter who the opponent is. Ashland (14-3) scored two goals in the first 12 minutes, outshot the Cougars 32-15 and thoroughly dominated control of the ball from start to finish - this against a Mountain View team that throttled Milwaukie 7-1 in the first round. Freshman Alex Murray scored barely a minute into the game off an assist by Costantino to put the Grizzlies up for good. Murray scored from point-blank range after a skirmish in the box led to two shots and a fortunate bounce. Golding made it 2-0 in the 11th minute off a cross from Garcia-Flores, who's bull rush from the left side created an opening on the right. Garcia-Flores and Golding nearly pulled off the same trick in the 28th minute, but Mountain View goal keeper Dustin Hamlet made one of his 17 saves to keep the Cougars within striking distance. It didn't last. Just six minutes into the second half Golding took a pass from Costantino on the left side of the box, faked out one defender then calmly lofted the ball over Hamlet for a 3-0 Grizzly lead. With the game approaching blowout status, the Cougars began taking more chances. The strategy worked � for Ashland. Grizzly senior striker Logan Steinfeld booted home a goal in the 69th minute off a last-second cross from senior wing Brady Case, and Garcia-Flores added the final goal in the 78th minute off an assist by senior wing Jeff McAllister. "We're very satisfied with the result we created today and we believe we can go farther," Ashland senior midfielder Cory Fisher said. "If we just play our game, we'll do fine." Bouncing back Ashland's impressive performance came just three days after a not-so-impressive one against Springfield. Tiaa Toutou said the Grizzlies were tight in that 1-0 first-round win, but loosened up considerably for the Cougars. It showed early and often. "Saturday I told them, 'Go home, relax, think about the game you played and evaluate yourself, then we'll talk about it Monday," he said. "If we're calm and we play our game - consistent passing to the feet and space - we'll win the game." The quarterfinal berth represents the biggest playoff push for the current group of Grizzlies. Ashland has qualified for the playoffs with regularity in the Tiaa Toutou era, but now will be grouped with the state's elite after a series of early-round exits. "It feels awesome," Costantino said. "The last two years we were a good team, but we lost both times in the first round and now it just feels great to actually go somewhere in the playoffs. "I think we can go even further. We know we're a good team, I think we showed that today. Whoever it is, I think we can beat them." Grizzly notes: If the Grizzlies beat Central Catholic, they'll host either Sheldon or second-ranked Jesuit in the semifinals next Tuesday. Jesuit rocked Cleveland 5-0 Tuesday, while Sheldon edged fifth-ranked McMinnville, 2-1. The state championship game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Nov. 20 at Tigard High School. � Ashland's win was its second in two weeks over Mountain View. The Grizzlies beat the Cougars 2-0 in a nonconference game on Oct. 30. � The Grizzlies are one of four teams left in the tournament that have yet to give up a postseason goal. Three of those teams - Lake Oswego, top-ranked South Eugene and ninth-ranked Woodburn - are in the top half of the bracket, and the other is Jesuit, which has outscored Barlow and Cleveland by a combined score of 9-0. 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