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Pelicans finally top nemesis Panthers By TIM PYLE Stars are supposed to be clutch performers when it counts. As a returning first-team all-state soccer player, Klamath Union senior forward Luis Garcia is a star, and Tuesday evening at Fichtner-Mainwaring Park, he also proved he can be clutch. In the last minute of a non-conference match against South Medford, Garcia's left-footed blast from 30 yards out forced Panthers senior goalkeeper Blake St. Onge to make a diving, one-handed save and allowed Pelicans junior forward Ricardo Gurrero to knock home an easy rebound for a 1-0 KU victory. Garcia and the nine other Pelican seniors took particular delight in the win because it was the first of their prep careers against South. "This is the first time in three years," said Garcia, a fourth-year letterman who was 0-5 against the Panthers heading into Tuesday. "It feels really good. We finally got them once." KU (3-0-2 overall) and South (3-1-1) are the preseason Southern Oregon Conference favorites, and if Tuesday was any indication, their league clash Oct. 6 in Klamath Falls should be a great one. "It's always a barn-burner with them," said fourth-year Panthers coach Dave Potter. "I don't care what year it is. It doesn't matter at all. Klamath Union is a good soccer program with good players, always. "You can just count on having a good, competitive game every year. ... It's a thrill to play Klamath Union." The action started out decidedly in the Pelicans' favor, as Garcia headed a cross from Gurrero off the inside of the right post in the opening minutes. A few minutes later, Garcia sent another deadly header soaring over the South goal off a free-kick cross from senior midfielder Adam Wendt. Midway through the half, KU had five shots to the Panthers' one and was controlling the flow of play. But South escaped the Pelicans' opening flurry unscathed and began to play better as halftime approached. The Panthers ended the half with four shots, two of which required saves, to KU's seven, three of which required saves. "The first half couldn't end fast enough," Potter said. Following a Potter pep talk, South was a new team in the second half. In the opening minutes, Panthers senior forward Pat Lower collected a cross from fellow senior forward Justin Baldoni and chipped a left-footed shot that forced a leaping deflection over the crossbar from Pelicans senior goalkeeper Phil Van Buren. As the half wore on, South continued to attack, and KU's frustration grew. Lower, a four-year letterman himself, fired three more blasts that needed Van Buren saves. Junior midfielders Daniel Hathaway and Tyler Miles also produced near-misses for the Panthers, and sophomore forward Corey O'Neill's close-in header in about the 70th minute required an outstretched corral and tumbling hold from Van Buren. With Garcia held in check up front by South senior fullback Cody George, the Pelicans' attack was stuck in neutral. First-year KU head coach Marty Ledgerwood pushed Garcia back to left midfield for the match's final minutes, and the move paid off. As regulation time wound down, Garcia received the ball in the middle of the field, side-stepped one Panther defender and uncorked a 30-yard, left-foot rocket toward the right upper-v of South's goal. St. Onge fully extended to punch the drive away with one hand - an "incredible save," according to Garcia - but Gurrero sped in alone to clean up the rebound. The Pelicans' celebration was befitting a team frustrated for years by the Panthers, and less than a minute later KU players erupted from the bench at the sound of the final whistle. "These two teams whack at each other all the time in league and the off-season, so it's nice to finally get a win off them," said Ledgerwood, who was an assistant under former coach Gerrit DeGroot for three years. "It's one of our goals to try to get these guys." The Pelicans' only two shots of the second half came on the game-winning sequence, while South fired 13 shots and forced seven Van Buren saves in the final 40 minutes. The shot tally was 17-9 in the Panthers' favor. Potter was pleased with the second-half improvements but remained mystified at the South's first-half showing. "That's not the same South Medford team that played in Eugene (beating South Eugene, 3-0, and Sheldon, 2-1) last weekend," Potter said. "Garcia's one of those players that if you give them one chance at the wrong time, they'll burn you on it." The Panthers face Churchill of Eugene at 4 p.m. Thursday at Fichtner-Mainwaring before beginning SOC play on Sept. 25. Reach reporter Tim Pyle at 776-4483 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.