Morgan Hill – Despite the loss of their head coach, the Live Oak
field hockey team is off to a winning start and learning new
strategies.
Morgan Hill – Despite the loss of their head coach, the Live Oak field hockey team is off to a winning start and learning new strategies.
After Paula Haaser stepped down as head coach of the varsity team, Live Oak athletic director Mark Cummins called junior varsity coach Gina Sanders and asked if she would take over coaching responsibilities for both teams.
And she accepted.
“It’s been crazy and fun at the same time,” Sanders said about her new coaching responsibilities. “There’s about a 40-minute overlap period during practice where I have both teams together.”
Sanders said girls from both teams, but especially the varsity squad, have been mature in maintaining hard practices and keeping things going smoothly during drills.
“They’re coming out with enthusiasm to play and learn, and I’ve been implementing some new strategies … more college-style play,” Sanders said.
Sanders does double duty on game days also, coaching the varsity and JV games back to back.
On Wednesday both teams narrowly defeated the Cupertino High School Pioneers 1-0 each. The varsity squad extended their Blossom Valley Athletic League record to 2-1, and the JV remains undefeated at 3-0.
In the first half of the varsity game senior Lexy Nuno, 17, scored the game’s only goal at the 22:00 mark.
After stumbling while dribbling down field, Nuno somehow maintained possession of the ball and knocked in the shot.
“I tripped over my own feet, but then I regained composure, junked some beezys out, and went in for the score,” Nuno said. “We played down to their level at first, but after coach Gina talked to us at the half we got more aggressive.”
Junior Brooke Willis, 16, who scored a hat trick in the Acorns win over Prospect last week, shared Nuno’s sentiment that the team could have played better.
Willis said they’re still working on implementing some of the new strategies Sanders has taught.
“Our team is really confident with our new short corner and with the new strategies,” Willis said.
Sanders wouldn’t give the details about the new field hockey maneuvers she is implementing but Nuno and Willis said the team has been working on short corner shots, cross-field passing and dribbling and juking during practice.
Sanders, a 2003 Live Oak alum, graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2007 where she played field hockey and coached numerous field hockey summer camps.
“I coached at camps all over the East Coast, so I have my share of experience, but this is my first full-time coaching gig … and I’m trying to make field hockey more well known in the area,” she said. “It’s great when you love to go to work everyday.”
