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Panthers move on with shutout win South Medford freshman Gracie Myers, foreground, and teammate Liz Beattie react after Myers scored a first-half goal Saturday. PHOTO BY LARRY STAUTH JR. Friday Oct 28, 2016 at 2:00 AM Oct 29, 2016 at 10:12 PM Dan Jones Mail Tribune @danjonesmt The South Medford girls soccer team kept the pressure on Sprague from start to finish en route to a 3-0 victory in the first round of the Class 6A state playoffs at South Medford High on Saturday. Hayle Mehl, Gracie Myers and Courtney Herick recorded goals for the 12th-seeded Panthers (9-4-2), who led 2-0 at halftime against 21st-seeded Sprague (9-4-2). “We did a really good job of attacking and keeping the pressure on today,” sixth-year South Medford head coach Chris Hollewijn said. South Medford will next play at Sunset (10-3-3) in a second-round match on Tuesday evening. The fifth-seeded Apollos beat the Panthers, 2-1, in second round of the playoffs last fall. Sunset, which finished in third place in the Metro League, beat No. 28 McMinnville, 7-0, on Saturday. “We’re a different team and I’m sure they are, too,” Hollewijn said. “(Sunset) is one of those Metro League teams who plays in a brutal league, and they’re as tough as anybody. We are looking forward to it. … We just have to put ourselves in position to keep having success.” Mehl got the scoring started in the 25th minute. The opportunity arose after Liz Beattie unloaded a hard shot that bounced off the crossbar. The deflection came to Mehl, who tallied from 18 yards out. The Panthers had already had a goal called back earlier because of an offside offense, so seeing the go-ahead counter was satisfying, Hollewijn said. “It was a reward for what we had been doing,” he said. “Our pressure on goal was rewarded. … You get so used to seeing league teams and getting an idea of their style. That is what is interesting with the playoffs. I think once we started feeling more comfortable we got going.” Myers’ 32nd-minute goal came after a wild sequence that began with a corner kick, continued with Baylee Smith and Hannah Wilkinson getting touches near the goal mouth and, after a few bounces, Myers scoring from close range. “We did a good job of hitting the ball toward the goal and Gracie found herself in the right spot,” Hollewijn said. “She is very composed.” Herick punched in the final goal from 23 yards out in the 59th minute on an assist from Whitney Winans after the two worked the middle of the field using give-and-go passes. “(Herick) is a player with a lot of technique,” Hollewijn said. “She does a lot of defensive work for us and starts a lot of our attacks. It was nice because we were putting a lot of pressure on them and there was a little more room to play in the midfield.” South has had some experience with Sprague, having dealt the Olympians regular-season losses in 2014 and 2015. Senior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Weber had the shutout on Saturday for the Panthers, who have won three straight. “She did a really good job today,” Hollewijn said. “We limited them on shots from further out so she didn’t have to make any big diving saves, but at the same time she did a great job organizing the defense and making saves when she needed to.” Reach reporter Dan Jones at 5541-776-4499, or email [email protected]. Find him online at twitter.com/danjonesmt