Live Oak field hockey’s first playoff run since 2006 has
extended to another game — against the top seed in the Central
Coast Section
SAN JOSE
Live Oak field hockey’s first playoff run since 2006 has extended to another game — against the top seed in the Central Coast Section.
Senior forward Catherine Sparling scored on a rebound shot in the 10th minute, and Anisha Patel caged an insurance goal midway through the second Thursday as the ninth-seeded Acorns upset host No. 8 Branham 2-0 in the first round of the CCS tournament.
Live Oak (10-5 overall), which lost its final three Santa Teresa Division games, faces No. 1 Los Gatos at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Del Mar High School.
“It really makes our season, especially after those last few games and then making it here,” Acorns coach Gina Sanders said. “We’ve just got to come out on Saturday with the same urgency to play like we can like we did today.”
It took time for Live Oak to adjust to the speed of playing on the artificial turf at Branham (9-2-2). As usual, the Acorns were well in command after scoring first.
Sparling’s goal came off a short corner that broke down near the Bruins’ cage. Sparling passed the ball to Kirsten Doting for a shot, and the ball deflected off the goalkeeper and right to Sparling for a put-back.
Patel’s score was set up by a corner as well. The junior deflected home a ball sent in by Doting.
“I joked about how everyone wanted to touch the ball before it went in. That’s what it looked like,” Sanders said.
“It was a very good game, a hard-fought one.”
If the Acorns play their best, Saturday’s quarterfinal should be no different.
Sanders knows from her playing days at Live Oak how strong Los Gatos’ year-round program is. The Wildcats won the last two CCS championships and reached the final in 2007.
“They’re very quick. They’re going to be very skilled,” the fourth-year coach said. “We just have to stay low and get out there. We have to just pretty much play great defense; not that we’re not going to have opportunities to score. We have to play well all around the field, locking up free hits, knocking it wide, staying low — everything.”
