A strong second quarter propelled Menlo past Live Oak, winning
15-6 Saturday in the Central Coast Section Division II
quarterfinals.
San Jose – A strong second quarter propelled Menlo past Live Oak, winning 15-6 Saturday in the Central Coast Section Division II quarterfinals.
“My expectation for the girls was to come out and play hard,” said coach Sharon Hyrne. “I didn’t necessarily think we would win, but I was thinking we could win.”
She added that she thought the girls played well and did better than she thought.
Hyrne said Menlo pulled away in the second quarter behind a strong counter attack.
She said initially the team held its own against the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, keeping the score within two points in the first quarter.
Hyrne praised the defensive effort.
“Our front court defense was really strong,” Hyrne said. “Our offense was still a little timid.”
Hyrne said in the second half, Menlo started substituting, which allowed the Acorns to chip away at the lead.
In the fourth quarter, Hyrne changed up her defense, leading to four goals.
The defense played back, more in a zone set up as opposed to man-to-man coverage
“We were trying some different things that we were working on in practice,” Hyrne said. “In the end it worked.”
Hyrne said the team played together and not one player carried the team.
She said that the girls were communicating well with each other and were finding the open swimmer, rather than relying on one person.
Laura Shope led the way with two goals. She was followed by Katie Rick, Jessica Poon and Ashley Rojas each with one goal.
Hyrne said the girls improved a great deal over the course of the season.
“We had a great season,” Hyrne said of the Acorn squad that went 16-8 in the regular season. “We had a lot of obstacles and a rough start at the beginning of the season. … We just progressed and got better as the season went on.”
