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Tornado players give support, win as coach mourns By DON HUNT Dick Darcy is coaching with a heavy heart following the death of his daughter in Mexico on Thursday. Darcy guided the North Medford High girls soccer team to a 3-1 state playoff victory over North Eugene Saturday at Varsity Field. The Black Tornado wore green and black ribbons -- Darcy's favorite colors -- on its uniforms as a gesture of support for their grieving coach. Toni Miller, Darcy's daughter, died in a freak accident on her 44th birthday when she fell off a balcony in Cancun, Mexico. "The girls were great," Darcy said. "They gave me cards, they gave me hugs and then they went out and played a great soccer match." Katie Longan, Lisa Munyon and Heather Johnson scored goals for the Tornado, which earned a second-round match against Crescent Valley Tuesday at Corvallis. Crescent Valley, the Valley League champion, advanced with a 1-0 victory over Wilson of Portland and improved its record to 13-1-1. Darcy said he didn't think twice about showing up to Saturday's match. That's what his daughter would have wanted, he said, and being with the North Medford girls helped ease the burden. "It was good therapy being out on the field today," said Darcy, the father of four other grown children in addition to Toni. "These girls are so much like my own kids. It's easy to be with them." Darcy will attend a memorial service in the Bay Area on Friday and then fly back to Oregon in time for Saturday's match against Crescent Valley. In the victory over North Eugene, Longan took a nicely-placed crossing pass from Katie Grace and deposited it into the goal just three minutes into the contest. Munyon, a freshman, blasted home a rebound shot off an indirect kick that gave North Medford a 2-0 halftime lead. Johnson scored the Tornado's final goal from 18 yards out with 10 minutes to play. The Highlanders' only goal came on a North Medford own goal late in the match. Katie Williams was credited with the score for North Eugene. North Eugene outshot North Medford 17-13 but couldn't get the ball past Tornado goalie Hawley Puett, who made 10 saves. "She (Puett) covered everything," Darcy said. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.