South Eugene loses close call.

Byline: Steve Mims The Register-Guard

S t a t e s o c c e r p l a y o f f s

After controlling most of the match, South Eugene thought it finally forced a 1-1 tie when Rachel Bunting scored a goal in the 65th minute against Oregon City.

However, the referee waved off the goal and called offsides on the Axemen and that was as close as South got to scoring as Oregon City held on for a 1-0 win in the second round of the OSAA Class 6A girls soccer playoffs Tuesday evening at South Eugene High School.

With 15 minutes remaining in the match, South sent a shot that hit the crossbar and then bounced in front of the goal before Bunting knocked the ball in the net a couple seconds later.

As the Axemen started celebrating, the referee ruled that South was offside before Bunting's shot and South Eugene coach Brad Stratton argued the call.

"I don't see any conceivable way it can be offsides," Stratton said afterward. "If off the initial free kick they came in and it was offsides, his flag would have gone up immediately," Stratton said afterward. "But the ball came in, hit the bar, off the keeper, back into play, bounced a few times, somebody shot it, bounced again, and somebody finishes and then he puts up his flag; there's no way. At that point the ball had made it all the way to the bar, so nobody can be offsides. It came off the keeper's hands off the bar and he said it was off the initial play, but it took so long to call it."

The referee, who declined to give his name, gave his explanation.

"When the free kick was shot, then it was offsides," he said.

Asked if he put the flag up after the goal, the referee said, "that's enough," and continued walking to his car.

Oregon City coach Jeff Dexter said he did not see the play but acknowledged there was some dispute about the call.

"It sounded like we had people on the post and if we had people on the post, it's probably not offsides," he said. "I'm honest. We had a goalkeeper and two kids on the post; if you have two there and the keeper touches it, it can't be offsides. If that's what happened."

It was another disputed call that led to Oregon City's lone goal as South Eugene was called for a foul following a collision between a South player and an Oregon City player late in the first half.

Oregon City's Erika Teixeira shot the free kick from 25 yards over goalkeeper Dana Harringon's head and into the net with 2:15 left in the first half.

"I wasn't thinking, I just kicked it," said Teixeira, who shot an earlier free kick over the goal. "I wasn't focused or something like that the first time, but then I got focused and kicked the ball in the right place."

Stratton also disagreed with the foul call that led to the goal.

"It was a collision, our player won the tackle fair and square and as she got up she saw the other player and put her arm out for protection," Stratton said. "It was 50-50 and somebody loses, and he gives them a free kick."

South Eugene, which won the Southwest Conference title, had 18 shots compared to three for Oregon City, and the Axemen had some chances to score throughout the game.

South's Nina DeHaas had a header bounce off the crossbar early in the second half and later she had another header that was barely wide of the goal.

GIRLS SOCCER STATE PLAYOFFS Class 6A State Playoffs Second Round TUESDAY'S RESULTS Jesuit 6, Roseburg 1 Lincoln 1, Lake Oswego 0 Westview 2, North Medford 0 Tualatin 3, Sprague 0 Beaverton at Gresham, ppd., wet grounds Grant 3, Clackamas 0 South Salem 2, Southridge 1 Oregon City 1, South Eugene 0

Quarterfinals SATURDAY'S GAMES Jesuit vs. Lincoln Westview at Tualatin Beaverton-Gresham winner vs. Grant South Salem at Oregon City