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Defense leads North girls past KU KLAMATH FALLS � North Medford�s Lisa Munyon and Tiffany Blodgett drew the difficult assignments in the Black Tornado�s important Southern Oregon Conference girls soccer match against Klamath Union Saturday. Munyon, a sophomore defender, and Blodgett, a freshman midfielder, were given the task of marking the Pelicans� dynamic scoring duo of Sam Gilbert, the reigning SOC 100-meter champion, and Sara Schaaf. Munyon and Blodgett did their jobs and the Black Tornado emerged with a 3-2 victory. The loss dropped Klamath Union into a three-way tie for first place in the SOC with North and South Medford at 5-1. But North has the inside track on the conference�s No. 1 seed to state because it beat both South and Klamath Union. The Black Tornado needs a victory over Grants Pass on Tuesday to seal the top berth. If it wins, the South-Klamath Union match Tuesday will determine the No. 2 and 3 seeds. "There�s been enough publicity on Sam and Sara, so we knew who their scorers were," North Medford coach Dick Darcy said. "Lisa Munyon did a tremendous job on Sam Gilbert. Of the two, Lisa stayed with her man tighter because she knew Gilbert was the more dangerous." North Medford led 2-0 at halftime, then McKenzie Weiler scored for North on an assist from Kelly Vilarino early in the second half to give the Black Tornado a comfortable margin. "They had to come out of their defensive mode," said Darcy. "They were getting desperate and opened it up. They got determined but they waited too long." The Pels made it interesting on goals by Brianne Hackett and Schaaf, the second with a little more than three minutes remaining. Schaaf had one more good opportunity with about 30 seconds to go, but North goalie Holly Lilly beat the Klamath player to the ball near the goal. Lindsey Arkenburg scored off a direct kick from 20 yards at 20:22 for North�s first goal. Vilarino pounced on a loose ball near the goal off Arkenburg�s corner kick to give the Black Tornado a 2-0 lead at the 29th minute. Denali Tice spearheaded the North defense along with Julia Clark and Karen Thiebes. "Tice kept everything out of the back for the majority of the game," said Darcy. "She played outstanding, just as she has all year." SOUTH MEDFORD 7, EAGLE POINT 0 � At Eagle Point, senior midfielder Emily Perttu scored three goals and junior forward Colleen Salisbury added two goals and an assist. Perttu and Salisbury each scored a pair of goals in the first half as South Medford led 4-0 at the break. Perttu opened the second-half scoring, followed by goals from Erin Reno and Lindsey Hawk. South Medford senior captain Kathleen Narus missed her second straight game because of a lacerated knee but is expected back for the Panthers� final regular-season match against Klamath Union Tuesday. The Panthers received top performances from midfielders Abby Fowler and Katie Casebeer and strong defensive efforts by Noelle Reed and Whitney Grant. GRANTS PASS 2, CRATER 0 � At Grants Pass, Alicia Pilcher broke a scoreless tie 10 minutes into the second half after taking a crossing pass from Allison Klingel. Lisa Root added an insurance goal, scoring off a corner kick for the Cavers (8-3-2, 4-2 SOC), who secured back-to-back state playoff berths for the first time. ROSEBURG 2, ASHLAND 1 � At Roseburg, Morgan Downie scored both goals for Roseburg, but the Indians were eliminated from playoff contention based on the results of other games. Downie won a scramble in front of the goal mouth and punched in the game�s first goal at the 24th minute. Four minutes later, her shot from 20 yards caromed straight down off the crossbar inside the line for another goal. Ashland�s Jessica Bullen scored on a penalty kick in the 69th minute. Roseburg outshot the Grizzlies 14-8. Boys SOUTH MEDFORD 9, EAGLE POINT 1 � Corey O�Neill and Jon McCollum each posted a hat trick in helping the Panthers remain undefeated at 6-0 in Southern Oregon Conference play. O�Neill opened the scoring off an assist by McCollum, with Pat Lower following with an unassisted goal. McCollum tacked on his first goal off an assist by Daniel Potter, and Lower closed out the first-half scoring with another unassisted goal for the Panthers (9-3-1). O�Neill jumped back on the scoreboard to open the second half with goals assisted by Craig Tomlins and Lower. McCollum followed with two straight goals, with the assists going to Lower and Daniel Hathaway. Justin Baldoni chipped in the final goal for South, while Juan Luna broke up the shutout bid by South�s Kyle Hadley with a goal in the closing minutes at Fichtner-Mainwaring Park. CRATER 2, GRANTS PASS 0 � At Central Point, two second-half goals carried Crater to its second SOC victory at Central Point Elementary School. Tristan Webb headed on a pass from Todd Sesock for a goal from 4 yards out to take a 1-0 lead 10 minutes into the second half. Five minutes later, Eddie Silva was taken down in the box and Leo Espinoza made good on the resulting penalty kick. Crater goalkeeper Paco Kurzyniec had six saves on the day, while Steve Johnsen and Matt Rensi played well defensively for the Comets (6-7 overall). ASHLAND 1, ROSEBURG 0 � At Ashland, Scott Beaver headed in the game�s lone goal in the 17th minute as Ashland improved to 3-3 in the SOC. Jasper Katz took a pass from Joel Steinfeld then crossed the ball to Beaver. Ashland (6-4-1 overall) outshot the Indians (6-7, 3-4 SOC) 18-11 and picked up stellar midfield play from Matt Sharp and fine defensive efforts from Sam McMillan and Noah Shields. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.