It took a feverish assault at the end of Tuesday’s game to do it, but Live Oak’s shutout streak is over.
Still the girls soccer team had plenty to be happy about following a 1-1 tie against Scotts Valley as the opportunities were there to blow the game open and the defense still did a strong job despite the late goal.
“I thought we played very well at times,” said head coach Tony Vasquez. “I felt like the air got to the girls. They were struggling. We’re a pretty fit team, but they weren’t able to get their lungs underneath them.”
Smoke from a recycling plant fire in Redwood City left a haze throughout the South Valley. At one point because of the air conditions, one of the side officials had to reach for an inhaler.
Macey Linder turned away eight shots in the tie, including four really tough looks from the Falcons.
“Last year she lost a little bit of her confidence and I thought that as a senior her confidence is definitely there,” Vasquez said. “It’s good to see her playing very well.”
Most of those opportunities came in the second half, especially after the 28th minute when Scotts Valley went into desperation mode to avoid the loss.
In the 29th minute, the Falcons had a break away opportunity, both times were cleared away by a diving Linder. Three minutes later, a corner kick rolled in front of the net, but none of Scotts Valley’s attackers could get a foot on the ball.
It finally ended in the 39th minute when a long free kick ricocheted off the cross bar and Linder went all out to knock it away. Her effort, however, left the net open to a rebound and Brittany Cartee tapped the ball into the back of the cage.
“These are the types of games that through adversity, you have to keep (focused),” Vasquez said. “This will help us out later in the season.”
That ended a four-game shutout streak that saw Live Oak outscoring opponents 11-0 over that stretch.
It looked like that streak would continue after neither side could get a quality attack in the first half, entering the break 0-0.
The Acorns finally broke through early in the second as the offense started finding the weak spots in the Falcons’ defense.
In the eighth minute, Bella Apolinar took a throw in and beat the defense to the net and attempted a feed to Holly Hopwood who was charging the cage.
The pass went wide, but the Acorns didn’t have to wait long for another shot.
Two minutes later, Shannon Rauschnot fed a pass to Karlie Juarez inside the box and the Falcons’ defender fell down leaving a wide open net for Juarez.
She put a good touch on the ball for a 1-0 lead.
Live Oak began playing a counter attack game after the score and it nearly paid off twice, both times coming off the foot of defender Alissa Pham.
“As long as someone is covering for them going up, I don’t mind one of them pushing up trying for the score,” Vasquez said.
The first came when she corralled a throw in and attempted a feed to Dakota White, but the ball just missed its mark and was turned away.
Two minutes later, Pham had an opportunity again, sending a shot on goal from outside the box that the tender turned away. Brooke Waller was there for the rebound, but was called off sides.
Live Oak had six shots on goal, sending one past the keeper for the game.
“I thought we attacked. We were a little unfortunate that we didn’t get a goal, but that happens in soccer where you have the majority of the play and the opportunities, but you don’t score,” Vasquez said. “It’s preseason. We’re 4-0-1 in preseason, that’s good.”
