With hat trick, Machado proves too much for Mazama

PHOENIX — All that was missing were the noisemakers and balloons as Adam Machado enjoyed what his coach termed a "coming out party" Saturday.

Machado, hampered much of last year by a recurring ankle injury, recorded a hat trick as fifth-ranked Phoenix rolled past Mazama, 9-1, in Skyline Conference boys soccer.

Machado scored two goals in a span of about one minute, each time taking nifty through passes from Uriel Castillo, to make it 3-0 in the 22nd minute.

The two nearly hooked up again a minute after that, but Machado’s shot was just wide.

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"He was absolutely, positively on fire today," said coach Dennis Flenner of Machado. "This was his coming out party. He’s really starting to show his stuff. Last year he would have had a huge impact, but he had a bad injury that was nagging him."

The ailing ankle took away Machado’s assets.

"He wasn’t able to be fluid in his movement," said Flenner, whose team moved to 5-1 overall and 4-0 in the Skyline. "He’s very, very fast, very skilled. He can turn on a dime, and he’s very agile, but when you have a nagging plant-foot injury, it’s hard to get your game going."

Machado’s other score came in the 51st minute, with an assist from Kyle McKinnis.

The Pirates, who in the past week changed their offense to be more aggressive, also got goals from Brian Bones, Jose Mena, John Feeney, Jason Lockett, Manuel Alvarez and Castillo.

Other assists were made by Feeney, Alvarez, Raul Meraz, Jaime Escabedo and Kylar Wilson.

Phoenix had 28 shots.

"We improved on our goal finishing and defense," said Flenner.

ROGUE RIVER 4, NORTH VALLEY 0 — At Rogue River, Eric Valencia had a hat trick and Kris Moore added another goal as Rogue River rolled past North Valley in the Skyline Conference match.

Jed Dunlap and David Simbris each had one assist for the Chieftains, who led 1-0 at halftime before blowing the game open in the second half.

Jeff McGinnis made four quality saves for the Chiefs, now 2-1 in league play and 2-2 overall.

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ASHLAND 4, THURSTON 0 — At Ashland, Ashland got off to a sizzling start and cruised to the nonleague victory.

Ricky Ferguson struck first for the Grizzlies (2-3), punching in a deflected cross.

Fabian Garcia tallied the next two goals, taking a pass after three touches and scoring 15 minutes in, then dribbling through three defenders to make it 3-0 at the 35th minute.

Thomas Souza scored the final goal with five minutes left on an assist from Zeke Hudson.

SOUTH EUGENE 2, NORTH MEDFORD 0 — At Eugene, junior forward Leland Wright accounted for both goals, in the fifth and 47th minutes, for third-ranked South Eugene.

North Medford (2-3-2) almost scored with about two minutes left, but Axeman goalie Eric Sorenson deflected James Kidwell’s 25-yard blast over the net.

Outside fullbacks Devon Torrey and Garrett Steeley provided the Black Tornado with strong play for the second consecutive game.

South Eugene had a 10-4 edge in shots, but the Black Tornado had the advantage in corner kicks, 4-2.

CRATER 2, MARSHFIELD 2 — At Coos Bay, Crater had control most of the way but Marshfield tallied in the 55th and 60th minutes to forge a tie in the nonconference game.

Crater (2-1-2 overall) outshot the Pirates, 29-20, but had three goals taken away, said Comet coach Chris Gallegos. One was for offsides. He said he was uncertain why the others were wiped out.

For Crater, Fernando Juarez scored in the 25th minute with an assist from Paul Melgren, and Ian Kappel tallied in the 66th minute off a pass from Eric Lillagren.

SHELDON 3, KLAMATH UNION 0 — At Klamath Falls, top-ranked Sheldon, perhaps showing the effects of having played No. 2-ranked South Medford to a draw the previous day, was held to a 0-0 halftime standoff before pulling away.

Jose Ortega played a fine game in goal for the Pelicans but was unable to stop two goals by Loren Hill, at the 47th and 65th minutes, and another by Jeff Masterson at the 53rd minute.

Klamath is 2-3 overall.

ROSEBURG 3, UMPQUA VALLEY CHRISTIAN 2 — At Roseburg, Taylor Stone beat two defenders and blasted the ball into the right side of the net from 15 yards out with four minutes remaining to lift Roseburg over Umpqua Valley Christian.