Both are league champions and both have visions of section
championships. But that
’s where the similarities end for the Live Oak High girls and
boys soccer teams as they enter Central Coast Section playoff
action this week. While the defending CCS co-champion LO girls team
(9-6-5 overall) struggled at times during the regular season and
had to forfeit several non-league matches
, the LO boys team rolled through a stellar regular season that
saw the Acorns (15-1-5 overall) shoot to the top of the section
rankings while losing just one match.
Both are league champions and both have visions of section championships. But that’s where the similarities end for the Live Oak High girls and boys soccer teams as they enter Central Coast Section playoff action this week.
While the defending CCS co-champion LO girls team (9-6-5 overall) struggled at times during the regular season and had to forfeit several non-league matches, the LO boys team rolled through a stellar regular season that saw the Acorns (15-1-5 overall) shoot to the top of the section rankings while losing just one match.
The No. 6 seed Acorn boys start CCS postseason play on Tuesday at 2:30pm against No. 11 North Salinas, a league rival, while the No. 10 seed Acorn girls play their CCS opener on Wednesday at 2:30pm against Peninsula Athletic League representative Menlo Atherton, the seventh seed.
Also competing in this week’s CCS playoffs are the Gilroy boys and girls soccer teams, both of whom finished second in league and earned automatic postseason berths. In a scheduling twist, both the Mustang boys and girls are No. 9 seeds and play at the No. 8 Leland boys and girls squads. The GHS boys play Tuesday at 2:30pm, while the GHS girls play Wednesday at 2:30pm.
Live Oak’s boys squad is looking for a much- improved showing in the CCS playoffs after last season’s disappointment.
In 2003-04, after finishing second in league to Gilroy and earning an automatic playoff berth, the Acorns laid an egg in the postseason, falling 1-0 at Menlo Atherton in the first round.
This time around, LO coach Tony Goble said he hopes a familiar first-round opponent – the Vikings – will help boost the Acorns on a successful postseason run.
“One nice thing is we know (North Salinas),” Goble said. “We’ve played them and we have a scouting report on them. Often, you go into CCS not knowing who you’re playing, but this is a team we think we can do well against.”
In two meetings this season, LO tied the Vikings (14-2-3 overall) 1-1 on Jan. 24, then beat them 3-1 in an emotional rematch two days later.
The two teams battled tooth-and-nail during both matches, and two North Salinas players ended up being ejected in the second meeting between the two teams.
An LO administrator also accused the Viking players of using profanity and racial slurs in Spanish against the Acorn players.
LO actually benefited from a snafu at the CCS seeding meeting on Saturday, according to Goble. Since at least one team, including Alisal, miscounted its CCS power points, the seedings had to be re-done on Sunday.
As a result of the new seedings, LO ended up with a higher seed (No. 6 instead of No. 8) and in the opposite bracket of No. 1 seed Watsonville, the nationally ranked squad.
Instead, Gilroy ended up in the same bracket as the Wildcatz, and will play the highly touted defending CCS champs in the second round, provided both teams advance.
Meanwhile, the Acorn girls also benefited from a fortunate seeding. Despite finishing as league champs over second-place Gilroy, the LO girls actually ended up with a lower seed.
According to LO coach Tony Vasquez, the Acorns and Mustangs ended up with an equal number of power points, but LO got the lower seed because the tiebreaker was bonus points instead of league standing.
As a result, LO ended up matched up against Menlo Atherton, instead of fellow defending CCS co-champion Leland, which is coached by Vasquez’s brother John.
LO just beat the Chargers 2-0 in non-league action on Friday.
Instead, the Gilroy girls will play Leland.
While Vasquez said he doesn’t know much about Menlo Atherton, he said he much prefers that match-up. For LO, he said, familiarity is not an advantage.
“I thought I was going to have to play my brother,” Vasquez said. “I didn’t want to play my brother. I’m happy with where we are.”
Helping boost Vasquez’s spirits even further is the fact that his Acorns ended up in the opposite bracket of top seed Carlmont, which has a first-round bye and will play the winner of the Leland-Gilroy first-round match-up.
Conversely, if LO can advance it will play No. 2 Santa Teresa, a team with which it has plenty of history.
After losing to the Saints in the CCS playoffs several years in a row, LO finally beat their postseason nemesis last season and Vasquez said he likes his chances this year.
“We’ve played them before,” he said. “So I actually kind of like our chances.
“But we’ll take it one match at a time.”
