Live Oak girls soccer team’s defense comes up big at Tri-Valley
Classic; offense falls short, scoring just one goal in three
games
Morgan Hill – If the Lady Acorns girls soccer team’s offense made any last minute wishes to Santa over the weekend it must have been for some offensive fire power, having wrapped up the Tri-Valley Classic Tournament with only one goal scored.
Live Oak tied two games and lost two games last weekend at the Tri-Valley Classic in Walnut Creek and will have a chance to rest and prepare until they kick off Tri-County Athletic League play against the San Benito Haybalers at home on January 10.
Live Oak’s defense played well against the Liberty Lions in the Acorns’ first game of the tournament, which ended in a 0-0 tie.
Defenders Jamie Hickey, Sara Locarnini, Ashley Thomas and goalkeeper Andrea Riolo shut down Liberty’s offense as the Acorns outshot Liberty 7-3 in the game.
The offense wasn’t able to make any of those seven shots count, however, and the Liberty defense held its ground to keep the game scoreless.
“We had a couple of good crosses from the outside on offense,” said Live Oak coach Tony Vasquez. “We didn’t give them any opportunities to get a good shot on goal. We were winning balls in the air and getting it up to our forwards and midfielders on the outside.”
In their next game to the tournament, the Acorns faced Campolindo on Thursday and tied 1-1.
Senior forward Jenny Emick scored the lone goal for Live Oak in the first half of action off an assist by forward Jamie LaForge as the Acorns dominated Campolindo.
“We dominated in the first half and had several opportunities to put the ball into the back of the net,” said Vasquez. “It was a tale of two halves. At first we created a lot of scoring opportunities and got it up to our forwards. We had a let down in the second half, they pressured us and scored with about 10 minutes left in the game.”
Throughout the rest of the tournament the Lady Acorns would have trouble keeping their stamina and energy up through the second half.
On Friday Live Oak dropped two games, one against the College Park Falcons, 2-0, and one to the Berkeley Yellowjackets, 2-0.
In both games Live Oak became sluggish in the second half and weren’t able to execute their game plan. The opposing teams recognized the sluggish play and became aggressive on offense, pressuring the Acorns’ defense and goalkeeper.
Having played four games in three days, Live Oak’s offense was understandably tired and worn down.
“Friday we were a little bit tired and our focus wasn’t there,” explained Vasquez. “Both games were tied 0-0 at halftime, but we lost focus in the second half and got tired.”
Overall, Vasquez said he was happy with his team’s performance and the tournament was a chance to get more games under their belt heading into league play.
The Acorns will use their break to work on scoring in practice. Live Oak’s offense has been creating scoring opportunities and pushing the ball toward the opponent’s goal, but they have been unable to convert. They have about two weeks to find ways to get the ball into the goal.
Vasquez is optimistic that his team will be able to get themselves on the right track and find some rhythm on the offensive end. The Acorns get closer every game and Vasquez believes it is the game experience that is going to benefit his team the most.
