If every champion needs to catch a few breaks to win, the Live
Oak High boys soccer team could be headed for a section title.
After playing on a rainy, soggy field in its Central Coast Section
playoff opener and escaping with a narrow win, the Acorn boys may
have dodged a bullet when their quarterfinal match on Saturday was
postponed due to a downpour. As a result, instead of playing on
another slow, water-logged mud bog, LO got to play on a dry
artificial turf field at Pioneer High in San Jose on a mostly sunny
Monday, and took advantage of the conditions to post an impressive
2-0 victory over Mountain View.
If every champion needs to catch a few breaks to win, the Live Oak High boys soccer team could be headed for a section title.
After playing on a rainy, soggy field in its Central Coast Section playoff opener and escaping with a narrow win, the Acorn boys may have dodged a bullet when their quarterfinal match on Saturday was postponed due to a downpour.
As a result, instead of playing on another slow, water-logged mud bog, LO got to play on a dry artificial turf field at Pioneer High in San Jose on a mostly sunny Monday, and took advantage of the conditions to post an impressive 2-0 victory over Mountain View.
“It made a huge difference,” LO coach Tony Goble said. The weather and the field “allows us to play our style of soccer. We’re basically a touch team with speed. I was very happy with the conditions and the field.”
With the victory, No. 6 LO (17-1-5) advances to the CCS Division I semifinals where it will play No. 7 Alisal (19-2-2) on Wednesday at 4:30pm at Piedmont Hills High, also an artificial turf field.
In Monday’s win, the bigger, more physical Acorn boys dominated play for most of the match against third-seeded Mountain View.
With the recently eliminated LO girls team rooting them on in the stands, the Acorns whipped the ball around the field with pace and accuracy,setting up plenty of scoring opportunities throughout the contest.
Top scorer Garrett Frechette, who had gone several matches without a goal, notched LO’s first tally on a well-struck left-footer off a header from Michael Place for a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute of play.
Frechette, Anthony Avalos, Anthony Razouk and Robert Adam pushed the ball seemingly at will into the MV zone. But it was the play of Frechette that most impressed Goble.
“We’ve been doing some pre-game visuals which is helping a little,” Goble said. “Garrett hadn’t scored in a while and I think he was feeling the pressure a little. He creates havoc now out there. He’s not scoring all the time but he opens things up for others.”
Frechette said the entire team improved its play in the quarterfinal victory.
“It’s our intensity as a team,” he said. “We’re stepping hard and getting opportunities. It was also a much better field. We moved the ball much better today.”
Despite handfuls of fine scoring chances, though, LO had to rely on its top-rated defense led by Nick Mott and Hassan Abdullahi to contribute its second shutout of the playoffs (15th overall) to be assured of victory.
The Acorns did get a late goal, set up by a foul on Frechette just outside the goalie box, to put the match out of reach.
On the play, Frechette was kicked near his head, and the MV defender was disqualified with a red card.
Frechette had to leave the field, but Razouk nailed the free kick into the MV net for the final margin.
“That free kick was clutch and Anthony Razouk made a nice play on it,” Frechette said.
According to Goble, the Acorns’ next opponent – Monterey Bay League champion Alisal – suffered its only two losses of the season (to Santa Clara and North Salinas) against teams LO beat.
Alisal also tied Mitty in the Homestead Christmas Cup, a team LO also tied in the Cup finale. (The Acorns lost to the Monarchs on PKs.)
In addition, the Trojans played TCAL opponents Gilroy (tie), Hollister-San Benito (win) and Salinas (win), while the Acorns played the MBL’s Alvarez (win) and Seaside (tie).
Alisal advanced to the D-I semifinals by beating Woodside 2-1 in its opener and Piedmont Hills 3-0 in the quarters.
LO beat North Salinas 1-0 in its playoff opener.
