For one day at least, it was a Live Oak sweep of San Benito in
water polo. On Friday afternoon, the Live Oak boys defeated the
Haybalers 8-3 at the Palo Alto Tournament. As that game ended,
several miles away the Acorn girls were busy getting their game
against the
‘Balers started at the Valley Christian Tournament. They would
go on to submerge San Benito 11-1.
For one day at least, it was a Live Oak sweep of San Benito in water polo.
On Friday afternoon, the Live Oak boys defeated the Haybalers 8-3 at the Palo Alto Tournament. As that game ended, several miles away the Acorn girls were busy getting their game against the ‘Balers started at the Valley Christian Tournament. They would go on to submerge San Benito 11-1.
With the wins, the boys improved to 13-5 overall while the girls sit at 14-2. Both teams are undefeated in league with their next meetings against San Benito Thursday.
In the boys’ win, Live Oak was in control from the beginning. The Acorns had a 4-1 lead at halftime.
Justin Short and Bryson Bailey contributed three goals apiece while Kyle Fast had one.
Boys coach Mack Haynes said the game had a weird vibe between the two teams, the members of which play on the same club in the offseason.
“I think both teams were real nervous. It’s really strange when you know each other as well as we know each other,” Haynes said. “Both were tentative at the beginning and they played us pretty tough.”
Earlier in the day at the tournament, Live Oak blanked Monte Vista 11-0. Fast scored five times and Short scored three.
On Tuesday, Live Oak played Gilroy for the last time in TCAL since the Acorns will be moving to the BVAL next year. Again, Short (6 goals) and Fast (3 goals) were the leading scorers.
Perhaps the biggest news of the week for the Acorn boys’ team was that it was invited to the True West Memorial State Invitational the last weekend of October. The top eight Southern California and top eight Northern California teams are invited, including the No. 1 team in the country, Long Beach-Wilson.
“That’s a big deal for us,” Haynes said. “Most high school teams never get to play in that.”
The girls water polo team continues to win, but had a close game against Santa Catalina Thursday. Still, the Acorns prevailed 10-8.
“We’ve been playing really well together,” said head coach Sharon Hyrne. “Our game (against Santa Catalina) really showed the team’s character.”
The Acorns trailed 3-1 after the first period but tied it up after two at five. The teams were still knotted going into the fourth, 7-7. But the Acorns scored three goals and held Santa Catalina to one to get the victory.
On Friday at the Valley Christian Tournament, the Acorns beat Lynnbrook 8-2 in addition to San Benito.
Against San Benito, Gautschi led the way again with four goals. Breanna Sennert and Laura Melroy added two apiece in the 11-1 win.
“They actually exceeded my expectations,” Hyrne said. “We all went in thinking the game was going to be a much closer game.”
The girls’ team has two league games remaining, against San Benito and Notre Dame.
