St. Mary's freshman Cora Campanella, left, pulls the ball away from Rogue River's Bella Potts-Bonner at Lithia & Driveway Fields in Medford Thursday.

As pleasant as they may be in real life, the St. Mary’s girls soccer team hasn’t been all that hospitable so far this season.

In fact, the Crusaders have been downright stingy this fall.

Coming off an 8-0 triumph over Rogue River Thursday afternoon at Lithia & Driveway Fields, St. Mary’s still stands with Class 6A Mountainside as the only girls soccer programs to have not allowed a single goal thus far.

Through seven matches, the Crusaders (7-0, 5-0 Dist. 4) have outscored their opponents by a 47-0 margin.

“It’s fun watching them play, it’s fun coaching them and they’re enjoying it as well,” said first-year St. Mary’s head coach Lauren Huizinga about the stellar start.

“They’re just an incredible group,” she added. “They came in with a ton of skill and they’re so willing to work together and try new things. It truly is all them. They’ve come with the tools to create this success.”

Seven different players recorded at least one goal during Thursday’s win over Rogue River, which has been a feature of the Crusaders’ play in 2024.

Bailey Strickler scored a pair of goals and added an assist against the Chieftains (1-5, 1-4), with Elsa Lee, Ketsia Carvalhaes, Ainsley Javarone, Emma Wheelock, Avery Gunn and Bella Mussio also finding the back of the net.

“I would prefer it that way so that we don’t become dependent on any single player and they trust each other to make those offensive plays when we need them,” Huizinga said of the balanced attack.

Gunn set up three goals Thursday and has worked in unison with Wheelock and Carys Chamberland to continually stir the pot on offense.

“I think we get a lot of really nice diagonal balls from Avery Gunn and Emma Wheelock and also from Carys Chamberland as the three of them kind of rotate through the middle,” said Huizinga, who is a 2003 St. Mary’s School grad. “Cora Campanella and Ketsia Carvalhaes and Ainsley Javarone are all pretty tied for who has the most goals at this point. I think Ainsley has a slight lead but Ketsia had another one today so she might have just caught up.”

The ability to be able to communicate and jell so quickly has been exciting for a group that boasts only two seniors in Carvalhaes and Mussio and five freshmen in the mix.

“They’re just all so versatile in how they play and they’re willing to be in different places to help each other,” said Huizinga.

On defense, Mussio shares time in goal with junior Bri Cooper and the backline features experienced junior Eva Castillo at center back, with sophomore Akayla Moens on her left flank and freshman Kiera Thiering on her right.

“Our defensive line stays really calm,” said Huizinga of the season-long clean sheets being produced. “They don’t panic. They are clearing balls but they’re clearing balls with intention so we haven’t kind of devolved into any sort of boot ball at any point.”

“It’s just been really mature play in the middle of the field to control the tempo of the game,” she added. “I don’t feel like there’s been a moment where we’re not playing our game and instead we’re playing somebody else’s game.”

St. Mary’s is coming off a season that ended in the 3A/2A/1A state quarterfinals with a 12-3-1 record, and Huizinga believes the team has the ability to challenge for similar results and beyond this fall and beyond with its strong young nucleus.

“Right now I’m just excited by it,” said the coach. “I know who we have in the pipeline in our eighth grade and our seventh grade, too, so the next three years — if not more — just look really promising knowing that we’ll keep a core group of these girls every single year. Obviously it will be sad to lose the seniors each year but I just think the next several years are going to be really, really fun for us.”

NORTH MEDFORD 4, WILLAMETTE 0: Olivia Boger and Isabella Driskell each scored two goals to lead North Medford to a Southwest Conference win at Bowerman Field. Brycelin Endrikat and Gia Rutigliano also each had an assist for the Black Tornado.

Boys Soccer

HENLEY 3, PHOENIX 1: At Phoenix, junior forward David Hernandez finished off a direct kick from Hector Ramos in the 25th minute for Phoenix to open the scoring but Henley countered with three second-half goals to claim the Skyline Conference victory.

Volleyball

SOUTH MEDFORD 3, SOUTH EUGENE 1: At Eugene, South Medford’s Julia Mitchell recorded a career-high 12 kills and Mayen Akpan had 20 kills in a 25-22, 18-25, 25-14, 25-19 triumph. Julia Slaughter doled out 35 assists, while Daija Malcolm had 11 kills and four blocks and Julia Hansen added six aces for the Panthers.

NORTH MEDFORD 3, GRANTS PASS 0: At Grants Pass, Nana Silafau connected for eight kills to go with five blocks and Kristina Atonio contributed seven kills and eight assists to lead North Medford to a 25-14, 25-11, 26-24 triumph.

CRATER 3, NORTH EUGENE 0: At Central Point, Crater junior setter Kendall Stidham dished out 36 assists while Danica Huntoon and Lanie Snow delivered 11 kills and four blocks apiece in a 25-21, 25-10, 25-19 Midwestern League victory. Callie Aplin and Alexa Gugliotta had eight kills apiece for the Comets.

CASCADE CHRISTIAN 3, LAKEVIEW 0: At Lakeview, Cascade Christian got 13 kills from Poppy Freeman and Isabel McCauley added four kills and four aces in a 25-21, 21-17, 21-11 Southern Oregon Conference victory.

ST. MARY’S 3, ROGUE RIVER 0: At Rogue River, Ella Yeamans dished out 19 assists and Ada Bernard had 15 kills and eight aces to help St. Mary’s earn a Southern Oregon Conference sweep, 25-8, 25-16, 25-8.