Mitty stings Live Oak with three second half goals
San Jose – The Tri-County Athletic League Champion Live Oak boys soccer team were knocked out of the Central Coast Section Division II playoffs with a first round loss to Mitty, 3-0, in San Jose on Wednesday.
The Acorns battled the Monarchs through a scoreless first half with great defensive play around their own goal. Mitty had several opportunities to score in the first half, but Live Oak managed to turn them away.
In the second half, the Monarchs’ offense came out very aggressive and found the back of the net 15 minutes in as a Mitty forward followed his teammate shot to head the ball into the goal for the 1-0 lead.
Mitty capitalized on their momentum and less than five minutes later were able to follow another shot and knock the ball past the diving Acorn goalkeeper, Sheldon Steenhuis, extending its lead to 2-0.
The Monarchs continued to roll on offense and solidified their win by adding another goal off of a corner kick, 3-0.
When the Live Oak offense was able to push the ball up toward the Mitty goal, Monarch defenders quickly closed in and cleared the ball out, making it extremely difficult for the Acorns to get a shot off.
The loss ends the Acorns first run through the playoffs as a Division II team. Last season Live Oak advanced to the CCS semifinal game in the Division I section.
The TCAL champs held first place in league wire-to-wire this season and were in the top 10 of three categories for the Monterey Bay preps area. Acorn forward Garrett Frechette ranked fifth with 22 goals on the season and 10th with nine assists, while midfielder Anthony Avalos was ranked 3rd in assists with 12.
The Acorns will lose nine seniors to graduation, including five regular starters, leaving them with some work to do in the offseason.
