Sometimes it takes a little while for a new coach and their team to find the right balance between what’s expected and how to translate that into seamless play.

Or sometimes it can just click from the start.

Thanks to some seasoned North Medford girls soccer players, it was the latter during Saturday’s debut under first-year Black Tornado head coach Malaika Quigley.

Senior forward Isabella Driskell recorded a hat trick in the first half and finished with four goals overall as North Medford cruised past Crater for a 7-0 victory on a hot afternoon at Bowerman Field.

“We could’ve had plenty more opportunities to capitalize on but, for a first game, they did phenomenal,” said Quigley. “I couldn’t have asked for more.”

“Everybody that stepped on the field just came in and it just felt cohesive,” he added. “They took direction all game super well and it’s just a good group. They’re willing to work hard and fix anything in the moment. When they get subbed out, they come out and ask questions about what do I need to fix and they all went back in and did exactly what we asked of them.”

After an early feeling-out period, Driskell registered her first goal on an assist by senior midfielder Alisa Wisdom at about the 10-minute mark.

That goal seemed to ease the tension for the Black Tornado (1-0).

“I think that kind of picked up our momentum a bit,” said Quigley.

Driskell scored on a singular effort five minutes later, then tacked on her third goal of the first half off an assist by senior Olivia Boger.

Junior midfielder Brycelin Endrikat closed the scoring with about four minutes left in the first half to give North Medford a 4-0 lead at the break.

After that, Quigley knew that Crater (0-1) would throw everything it could at the Tornado to try and get back into the contest.

“They came out with a little bit more pressure on our backline in the second half but our defense did a very good job of handling everything super well,” she said. “Everybody did a good job — all three lines — and our keeper (junior Peyton Caster) did a really good job as well. I think we made it pretty easy on our keeper today. She didn’t have to make too many crazy saves and she came out and she distributed really well today.”

Endrikat and Boger each collected a goal in the second half, along with Driskell, who set a career high with her four goals.

“It was a very good start for her,” said Quigley.

The same goes for a defense that allowed Caster to keep a clean sheet.

“I think they all worked really well together,” said Quigley, who turns 24 in October. “Payton (Miller) did a really good job of holding down the midfield and we had some key players in the backline as well in Hailey (Hughes) and (Ava) Markiewicz and Mya (Gelsinger) as a freshman stepped in at center back and did really well today.”

Quigley, who was an all-conference midfielder and javelin thrower at Southern Oregon University, also had praise for outside backs sophomore Rannoch McNaught and freshman Brooklyn Casale for their play against the Comets.

PHOENIX 4, BAKER 0: At Phoenix, Anahi Carranza-Villa scored two goals for the second straight day as Phoenix earned its first victory under first-year head coach Emily Williman.

Carsyn Gallegos and Amaya Larios also scored and Valeria Arevalo had an assist for the Pirates (1-0-1), who were coming off a 2-2 tie against Ontario.

Boys Soccer

EAGLE POINT 1, ROSEBURG 1: At Eagle Point, freshman forward Julian Cisneros scored in the 29th minute off an assist by sophomore midfielder Isaac De La Cruz to help Eagle Point to a draw in its season opener.

PHOENIX 8, BAKER 0: At Phoenix, eight different players scored as Phoenix was able to end the match early by mercy rule at the 25-minute mark of the second half.

Hector Ramos opened the scoring in the first minute on a penalty kick, and the Pirates (1-0-1) also got first-half goals from Louis Ortiz, Zahir Mendoza and Moises Hernandez.

David Hernandez, who had an assist on Mendoza’s goal in the 15th minute, scored in the 45th minute. Phoenix then got three goals in a five-minute span from Gio Suarez, Antonio Camargo and Khaile Borland. Victor Peral and Elijah Palmer picked up assists.

Football

VALE 29, CASCADE CHRISTIAN 6: At Bend, Cascade Christian scored on a 2-yard run in the second quarter but Vale controlled the second half and scored 21 unanswered points to pull away and end the Challengers’ 26-game winning streak.

Farmer completed 11 of 18 passes for 155 yards with one interception, while Bryson Walker ran eight times for 53 yards and caught three passes for 60 yards to lead Cascade Christian (0-1).

Caleb Scaglione also had three receptions for 61 yards.

The Challengers managed only 196 yards of total offense and committed three turnovers with a pair of lost fumbles.

Kase Schaffeld carried the ball 25 times for 252 yards and three TDs to power Vale, which lost in overtime to Cascade in last year’s Class 3A state quarterfinals.

Vale 8 0 8 13 — 29

Cascade Christian 0 6 0 0 — 6

V — Schaffeld 48 run (Haberman run)

CC — Farmer 2 run (conversion failed)

V — Schaffeld 11 run (Schaffeld run)

V — Haberman 9 run (C. Longoni kick)

V — Schaffeld 23 run (conversion failed)

Girls Volleyball

MOUNTAIN VIEW TOURNAMENT: At Bend, South Medford went 3-0 Friday night to get the season off to a good start, with Julia Slaughter leading the charge behind 34 assists, six kills, four blocks and two aces.

Mayen Akpan provided a steady attack for the Panthers with 29 kills, eight blocks and four aces, while Julia Hansen had seven assists, two kills and eight aces and Daija Malcolm supplied 10 kills, two blocks and four aces.