They may be young but they
’re definitely ready to give their opponents a run for their
money.
They may be young but they’re definitely ready to give their opponents a run for their money.
After losing seven starters off last season’s senior-laden team that won another in a string of league titles for the program by taking the first-ever Tri-County Athletic League championship, then advanced to the Central Coast Section Division I quarterfinals, this year’s Live Oak High girls soccer team may be younger but it’s also faster.
And, Acorns coach Tony Vasquez said his team plans to use that speed to its advantage while trying to overcome its overall inexperience.
“This is the fastest team I‚ve ever had,” the third-year varsity coach said. “But we need games because we‚re young so we’re inexperienced. We definitely need to get games in to get that experience.”
Live Oak began its season by traveling to Valley Christian on Tuesday.
Not that the Acorns are completely without returning talent from the team that finished 12-8-2 overall and 9-0-1 in the T-Cal.
There are the seniors, including returning first-team all-leaguer Janae Pimentel, who will move to center-midfielder after playing midfield-defender last year; all-league second-team defender Bridgette Bonfiglio; and defender Catriona Adam.
And, there are the juniors who got varsity experience as sophomores on last year‚s squad, including Team Offensive MVP and second-team all-leaguer Michelle McDonald and Honorable Mention all-leaguer Katie Renteria, both forwards who will be counted on to provide scoring punch.
As for the goalkeeper situation, junior Sam Samaniego and sophomore Lorin Ackers are competing for the position, Vasquez said.
According to Vasquez, the Acorns will once again be considered the favorites in the T-Cal, but he said he expects a battle from league rivals San Benito and Notre Dame-Salinas.
Last season, the Haybalers finished second at 8-1-1 in the T-Cal behind Live Oak, suffering their only loss of the league campaign to the Acorns.
In last season’s CCS playoffs, Live Oak earned the No. 9 seed and beat No. 8 Gunn 1-0 in the first round. But in the quarterfinals, Live Oak battled No. 1 seed Santa Teresa tough before falling 3-2 on penalty kicks after the game remained tied through the end of regulation. Santa Teresa edged the Acorns 4-3 in the shootout.
