With considerable varsity experience on each level of his boys soccer lineup, first-year South Medford coach Matt Soper considers himself fortunate to be at the helm of the Panthers this fall.

They showed that value again Wednesday night during a nonconference clash with Ashland, posting a second straight shutout to open the season behind a 3-0 triumph at South Medford High.

“Ashland’s always good,” said Soper, who previously served as an assistant to Claudio Villa and has held head coaching posts at North Medford and Eagle Point. “They’re always big, strong and physical, and they always bring it to us because they’re playing a 6A school and they want to do well. I feel like we held down the fort pretty well and once we got going and our feet wet, we were motoring along. I was impressed with our effort.”

The Panthers (2-0) didn’t take long to get off on the front foot, using a 30-yard pass from senior midfielder Kyle Denn to set up junior Steven Calvillo for a goal in the ninth minute. Denn gathered the ball and worked his way through a couple Ashland players before looking upfield and finding a streaking Calvillo, who initially had his window to the goal closed but regathered the ball and slotted it into the net from about 10 yards out.

That 1-0 lead held up through halftime, and South Medford received an insurance goal from senior forward Danny Centeno in the 59th minute on a 30-yard strike.

Centeno closed out the scoring in the 63rd minute when he was first to react to a loose ball in the box following a corner kick.

“Danny has been coming off the bench and he’s coming up clutch,” said Soper, noting Centeno also scored in a 4-0 win at Bend to open the season. “At 1-0, it could go either way, but when it’s been his moment to shine, he’s been shining really well.”

Ashland senior forward Cash Cota was a bit of a thorn in the Panthers’ paw as he worked with his fellow Grizzlies (0-1) to rally, but South Medford senior goalkeeper Silvano Pineda was able to keep a clean sheet with five saves amid solid defensive support.

Seniors Andrew Oppermann and Sergio Cisneros have anchored the defense, working well to bring along sophomores Owen Neville and Moxy Simmons.

“They’re teaching them and they’re controlling the defense pretty well,” Soper said of Oppermann and Cisneros.

Another strength the Panthers have been able to show already this season is in the midfield, where Denn teams with senior Felix Valenzuela and sophomore Omar Serrano to serve as the points guards to the Panther attack.

“We’re feeling very good; we have a very talented group,” said Soper. “Our defense is pretty young but surprisingly they’re jelling really quick. I think playing indoors in close quarters for the first 10 days since the smoke came in, it’s helped us jell as a unit.”

Another key factor is that the Panthers return a host of players who have been together for several years now.

“We have five guys who have been on the first team since they were freshmen,” said Soper, “so they know each other pretty well and they also play club in the offseason together. I’m pretty lucky with this group.”

CRATER 2, ROSEBURG 2: At Central Point, Crater rallied from a two-goal deficit at halftime to earn a tie in its season opener at Dutch Meyer Stadium.

Tucker Hopkins scored on a breakaway following a pass from Parker Allen in the 58th minute to boost the Comets (0-0-1). In the 80th minute, Ben Warner scored the tying goal on a finish from a header in the box by Bennett Palodichuck.

The effort, especially in the second half, was a promising one for a Crater team that is rebuilding in some key spots after earning the program’s first conference title a year ago.

Roseburg (0-0-1) scored its second goal on a header by Aaron Familio off a corner kick.

Girls Soccer

ROSEBURG 4, CRATER 2: At Central Point, Ella Heppner scored a pair of goals in the second half to pull Crater even with Roseburg, only to see the Indians post a pair of goals in the final 10 minutes of play to break away at Dutch Meyer Stadium.

Roseburg led 1-0 at halftime and 2-0 midway through the second half when Heppner finally ended the scoring drought for the Comets (0-1), who have practiced almost exclusively indoors due to air quality issues in the preseason.

In the 60th minute, Autumn Jackson played a ball to the right side for Heppner, who delivered a hard shot from distance that went across goal into the far side netting. Ten minutes later, the junior forward capitalized on a mistake by the Roseburg goalkeeper and won a one-on-one battle for an equalizing goal.

Addison Vranes came up with five big saves to help slow Roseburg (1-0).

Volleyball

CRATER 3, ROSEBURG 1: At Central Point, Crater pushed its overall record to 6-1 under first-year head coach Tiffany Booth with a solid overall effort against Roseburg.

The Comets earned their third straight win by topping the Indians, 25-23, 25-16, 20-25, 25-20.

Alexa Gugliotta helped pave the way with 25 kills for Crater.