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SOC girls soccer coaches snub North's top threat Commentary By RANDY HAMMERICKSEN It seemed like a sure thing. North Medford High senior forward Lu Crenshaw had to be a first-team girls soccer Southern Oregon Conference all-star. And perhaps, the league's Most Valuable Player. But a not-so-funny thing happened to Crenshaw on her way to postseason conference awards. She got snubbed by league coaches in their all-star voting. Crenshaw, 18, a first-team SOC all-star as a sophomore and junior, was relegated to honorable mention on the 1998 team by the coaches last week. How could that be? Her 16 goals and nine assists didn't match the numbers of SOC scoring champion and Most Valuable Player Stephanie Lucas of Eagle Point. Lucas had 31 goals and six assists. But is scoring everything? I don't think so. Crenshaw's on-field fire, her competitive will to lift her team to victories, and the team's co-championship with South Medford should have been considered strongly. But apparently, they were not. It came down to an issue of scoring. And the results of the voting were devastating to Crenshaw. "I couldn't believe it when I heard it, but I'm moving past that," she says. Crenshaw demonstrated her will to put her team on her back and carry it last Saturday by scoring North's first goal in a 3-1 win over South Eugene. She re-injured her ankle later in the game, but she is expected to play today when the Black Tornado meets Redmond at 2 p.m. at North's District Field. When the all-star voting was over in the coaches' meeting, North Medford coach Dick Darcy removed himself from the room and drove home. He was angry. "It (the voting) was a joke," says Darcy. "I couldn't stand to see that happen to Lu." Crenshaw went from a two-time first-team selection as a sophomore and junior to honorable mention as a senior. Her numbers were slightly off what she put up for two straight years, but the reason was that she sacrificed her statistics to help her teammates score, and win, particularly junior forward Tennille Bennett, who was a first-team selection. South Medford High first-year coach Leslie Lang, who was voted SOC Coach of the Year, says she voted for Crenshaw as a first-team selection. That was apparently the only first-team vote she got. "To tell you the truth, I think Darcy nominated the wrong player for Player of the Year," said one coach, who did not want to be identified. "He should have put Tennille Bennett up for it. She might have gotten it." Bennett was voted to the first team, however. But what about Crenshaw? She had good numbers, and she was clearly the inspirational and physical force of her team, if not the best overall player in the league. "I feel Lu has been dealt a severe personal injustice," says Darcy. "If she was starting now to try to get a college scholarship, she would be in trouble. Fortunately, she's not and she has choices to make in terms of which school she might play for next year." The list is apparently down to University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., St. Mary's College of Miraga, Calif., and the University of Montana. All three schools are offering Crenshaw significant scholarship money. Lucas scored 31 goals for Eagle Point during the season, including eight in SOC play. Crenshaw had four goals, and did not score against four teams. That was a major consideration for the coaches. "I don't think you can just vote based on scoring in league games," says Crenshaw. "I think it's more than that. I think the coaches don't like me. "I don't think they like Dick (Darcy), either. But I love the guy, and I don't care what they think of him. He's a great coach." "If Lu wasn't as strong as she is, this might shatter her," says Darcy. "But she's planning to pin her ears back in the playoffs and show these coaches how juvenile they are." Crenshaw's fearless, physical play has apparently given her a reputation as a dirty player. Darcy says that reputation is unfounded. "I'm getting ready to play college soccer because that's how they play," Crenshaw says. "I'm not dirty. I play hard. And I'll keep doing it." Lang says Crenshaw deserved to be on the first team, and perhaps Player of the Year. "I think she's probably the best player in the league, and I think she had a good year," says Lang. "I voted for her on first team because she deserves it. "I don't know what other reasons there were that she didn't get picked for the first team. I'm the rookie coach, and I don't know what had gone on in the past, or what the other coaches think." Crenshaw didn't score against South, but that didn't stop Lang from voting for her. Lang voted her heart and showed her true professionalism and objectivity. What happened to the other coaches is the mystery. "The most important thing is that I think Lu will go on and have a good college career," says Lang. "This (the snub) doesn't matter that much. She's going to go on have a good college career. That tells you how good she is." "I gave her a vote," says Crater girls head coach Mark Tewes. "I'm not going to say for what team. But I'm just one voter. I don't know why she didn't get more votes. "She played well against us," says Tewes. "But so did their entire team." Eagle Point coach Tim Sweeney says he voted for Crenshaw on the first team, and he says the fact that she received only honorable-mention status is probably based on her lack of goal-scoring in league games. "After Dick (Darcy) stormed out of the room, the other coaches got back together to see if we had done Lu an injustice," says Sweeney. "Barry Gottula (Klamath Union Athletic Director and chairman of SOC soccer) asked each coach how many goals Crenshaw scored against their team. Four coaches said she didn't score against them, and the Grants Pass coach wasn't there. "As far as I know, that was the basis for this. She didn't score enough against league opponents." I totally disagree. Crenshaw is the best player in the league. And she's a winner. She's deserving of much more than honorable mention in her senior season. (Randy Hammericksen is the Mail Tribune's sports columnist. He can be reached at 776-4499.) Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford,