Live Oak’s boys soccer team celebrated its first win of the season Saturday, shutting out Menlo School 2-0.
Coach Tony Goble said the win was the result of his offense improving, something that started in a 2-1 loss against Overfelt on Thursday to open Blossom Valley Athletic League Mount Hamilton Division play.
“Slowly, our offense is coming together,” Goble said. “Against Overfelt, we saw signs of that.”
Goble said he was particularly impressed with the level of pressure the Acorns (1-3-2) were able to put on the visiting Knights.
“We had quite a few options to score early on,” Goble said.
Garrett Frechette opened the scoring in the first half for the Acorns on what Goble called a “good offensive attack.”
The second goal came on a free kick from 35 yards out in the second half by Vinny Caro that was supposed to be a feed to Sheldon Steenhuis.
“I had someone tell Vinny to drive the ball toward the keeper – we were going to challenge the ball in the air,” Goble said, noting that he thought the goalie would not be able to repel the attack. “He drove it to the back corner of the net and it went right through.”
Goble said that the victory came short handed with two of his starters, Robert Adams and Matt Altamirano, out because of an injury. Adams played 15 minutes, but a nagging groin injury forced him to the bench.
“We did it with two subs, it was great for us,” Goble said.
Goble said the confidence was apparent even in the loss to Overfelt, who continually pushed the Acorns defensively.
“We didn’t look at them and go ‘Oh my God, how do we stop them?'” Goble said. “The defense played well and made some adjustments.”
Goble said he is encouraged going into league play, saying that his players might not be title contenders, but playing in such a tough division could mean a berth in the Central Coast Section playoffs.
