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50 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, November 25, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend November 17, 2004 Gladstone ousts Phoenix from state playoffs Boys Soccer GLADSTONE — Phoenix can score with the best of them. And the Pirates can play a little defense, too. But one thing the second-ranked Pirates couldn’t contend with on Tuesday was falling behind on the road. Gladstone pushed in an early goal then sat back and played defense during a 1-0 victory in a Class 3A boys soccer semifinal game. The fourth-ranked Gladiators (13-2-2) advance to the title match this Saturday against top-ranked La Salle, a 2-0 winner over Hidden Valley. Phoenix (15-2) sprinted through the Skyline Conference unbeaten but couldn’t counter Gladstone’s early score. Advertisement "I felt like we were able to control the tempo and the momentum in the first half," said fifth-year Gladiators’ coach Tyler Lewis. "In the second half, we just settled back into our own territory and tried to defend for 40 minutes." Senior Kellen Huddleston put Gladstone on the board in the 13th minute. Fellow senior Josh Southmayd sent a through ball past the Pirate defense and Huddleston finished with a header for the decisive goal. Phoenix was on the defensive in the first half, losing the shots-on-goal battle 7-3, but managed to put Gladstone on its heels in the final half. "They made a little run at us," said Lewis. "We did a good job of finding their guys that we thought could hurt us and keeping them under wraps." Southmayd marked Pirate forward Jaime Escobedo for much of the game and was able to do something not many defenders have done this season — keep Escobedo out of the scoring column. "Josh is definitely our best marker," said Lewis. "He did a tremendous job of keeping an eye on Escobedo." Uriel Castillo also got the attention of several Gladstone defenders. But the Phoenix midfielder couldn’t get on track with all the attention. "I knew it would be a very competitive game," said Lewis. "We felt like if we could contain those two players we’d have a shot." LA SALLE 2, HIDDEN VALLEY 0 — At Murphy, after starting the regular season 0-2, Hidden Valley coach Tim Hannah knew his team had some choices to make. Fortunately, the Mustangs made good choices from there on out finishing the year as one of the top four Class 3A teams in the state following a semifinal loss to top-ranked La Salle at the District Office Field. "For a young team they could have gone the other way," Hannah said. "We ended the season on the right note." La Salle scored early in both periods, the first coming in the ninth minute off an assist by senior midfielder Matt Hebberling from the left side that found fellow senior Scott Bernards inside the goal box. Hidden Valley had a couple of good scoring opportunities late in the half, but were unable to retaliate against the Falcon defense. "In probably the last 15 minutes of the first half we really picked up our play," said Hannah. The first Mustang opportunity was set up by a drive down the right side by sophomore Tyler Stom. Stom zipped a crossing pass in from the corner of the field to Joe Guevara, who’s header missed wide. The senior-laden Falcons closed out the scoring with a rebound goal by Pat Bullock in the 47th minute after Mustang goalkeeper Greg Miller blocked a La Salle header on the initial attempt. Miller, a junior, finished with six saves for Hidden Valley, which was outshot 9-4 by the Falcons. "It was a great state playoff game," said Hannah. "I believe we earned the respect of La Salle by the end of the game." The Mustangs finished 9-3 in the Skyline Conference and 12-4 overall. Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities