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Depleted South falls in playoff South Medford's Erin Reno (16) gains control on South Salem's Kristin Dahlin. By GREG STILES South Medford's foray into the Class 4A state girls soccer playoffs ended a bit earlier than the Panthers hoped. The Southern Oregon Conference co-champions had the right draw, the right motivation and the home-field advantage at Fichtner-Mainwaring Park. But one not particularly explosive indirect kick over a wall of Panther defenders found its way into the goal in the second half of Friday afternoon's match as South Salem knocked off the SOC's No. 1 team, 1-0. It was the second year in a row that South Salem ended the Panthers' season. The Saxons won 5-1 in the Panthers' opener last year. The victory vaulted South Salem (9-3-3) into next Tuesday's third round against the winner of today's Forest Grove-Grant contest. North Medford, the SOC's No. 2 team, plays host to North Eugene at 1 p.m. today. South Medford (10-5) has been without standout junior defender Emily Perttu throughout the season, and sophomore forward Colleen Salisbury was lost last month. The Panthers' misfortune snowballed last week in their SOC finale. Senior captain and leading scorer Tiffany Mason drew a red card at Klamath Union and was forced to sit out Friday's match. Then 25 minutes into the playoff match, South Medford's other captain, Marissa Gillingham, injured her left knee. Despite the obstacles, the Panthers kept after the Saxons until the bitter end. "Not for one second did our team act like it was missing four key players," said second-year South Medford coach Leslie Lang. "We played a lot of young and inexperienced girls today, but they played like they had been doing this all their lives. I was proud of our showing. Sometimes, that's the way it happens, and it might have been different any other day." The contest was slated to start at 2:30 p.m. but started more than hour late because officials from Klamath Falls had been told by the Oregon School Activities Association the game was being played today. By the time a replacement crew of officials could be assembled, there was less than 90 minutes of daylight left. The possibility of overtime was scrubbed before the start and a shootout would've been performed in virtual darkness. But South Salem junior Lindy Wimmer settled the matter with a goal 16 minutes into the second half. With a half-dozen South Medford players lined up 13 yards away, Wimmer looped the ball into the right side of the goal. "I saw the corner was open, and if I could get the ball there, I thought it would go in," said Wimmer, who has scored on three indirect kicks this fall. South Medford goalie Heather Fossen made a half-dozen clutch saves in the course of the contest but didn't get a jump on the ball Wimmer's shot. "If I was given a shot at that one again, I would get it," Fossen said. South Salem coach Paul Goodwin said he noticed a big change when Gillingham was knocked out. "They came out and just dominated the first 25 minutes (with Gillingham)," Goodwin said. "After that, we stepped it up pretty well. After we scored, it just became a classic situation where the team that's down has to press for a goal." South's best chances to score came in the first half: Senior midfielder Rachel Vandenbergh's corner kick skimmed off the heads of two South Salem defenders, just missing the far goal post. Sophomore forward Erin Reno nearly headed in a crossing pass from junior forward Kacy Clark. Late in the half, South Salem goalkeeper Miranda Melton left the box, chasing a ball, and slipped. But a cross pass sailed out of bounds. Most of the time, the Panthers found themselves facing a superior number of defenders. "We pretty much kept four people back because they were a team that likes to drive the ball a long way," said South Salem freshman defender Robin French. "I think we played the basics pretty well today." The Panthers managed to get off a dozen shots despite the extra company, but without Gillingham, the quality of shots might have suffered. "They swarmed on us," said Clark. "It was like playing 3 v. (versus) 1 or 4 v. 1 at times. We depend on Marissa to make runs up the middle. Erin and I are more crossing types than dribbling, and we lost that advantage without Marissa." Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.