The Live Oak girls water polo team defeated Seaside 14-9 on
Wednesday.
The Live Oak girls water polo team defeated Seaside 14-9 on Wednesday. The Acorns were sitting on a 13-2 lead going into the final quarter. But Seaside answered with seven unanswered goals, before Jessica Rioux broke up the streak with 13 seconds left to secure the win.
Chelsea Lanning scored five goals, and Ryan Gautschi had three goals.
“I thought as a team, we played very well,” said coach Bryan Traverso. “Our defense was tough, our passing was good, yet I had two areas of concern. Our shooting was not very good, and I felt that our 6-on-5 could use some improvement. Except for those things, I am completely satisfied with the game.”
Boys polo
The Live Oak boys water polo team was able to easily defeat visiting Carmel on Wednesday in a 22-6 match.
Ryan Gautschi, who led the team with six goals, started the scoring off with a ball that ricocheted off the post and the goalie. But Seaside answered right back with a goal.
With 2:28 left in the first quarter, goalie Jason Kim lobbed a ball to Justin Short, who along with Devin Merchant had four goals. Short drew the goalie out for the easy score.
Going in the second quarter, Live Oak was up just 4-2 but started to pick it up. It wasn’t until there were 49 seconds left in the third third quarter that Seaside scored again. But by that time, Live Oak had already put 17 goals in the net and was easily in control.
“Carmel is in a transition right now,” said Live Oak coach Mack Haines, “I am pleased overall with the defense that led to the transition game. As the game went on, we were finding the open man and making the cross court pass. We have been working on that weak side away from ball all week. We did a much better job of finding the open player.”
Corey Robinson and Mike Mitchell had three goals each for the Acorns, Shea Coleman had two and Bryson Bailey added one.
Gautschi almost lofted in a goal a couple of yards away from the opposite cage as time expired. But the ball just sailed over the net.
Jeff Balch got his first chance in goal this year for the Acorns during the second half and had a solid performance.
Balch did some work this week in the cage after one goalie took a ball in the nose and the other was not at practice. Coach Mack Haines said he liked what he saw.
“He did a good job in practice, so we thought we would give him a chance,” Haines said. “He made great passes and had some good blocks. It probably won’t be a permanant thing though. Shea, at least for now, looks to be the heir apparent to Jason.”
Live Oak will begin the Menlo Atherton tournament play Friday at 1:50 p.m. at Los Altos against Aragon.
“They are a very good team,” Haines said. “They got to be one of the top 10 teams in the area. They have a good chance to make it to D1 championship. They are not Bellarmine, but they still have a solid team with experience. Aragon will probably be our toughest opponent so far. We like playing the best – it gives you a good measure of what you need to improve and change.”
The Acorns (9-3, 2-0 TCAL) will play two games on Friday and two on Saturday regardless of if they win or lose.
Next Tuesday Live Oak boys will continue league play at Salinas, while the girls teams plays at Live Oak.
Girls golf
The Live Oak girls golf team finished with its second fourth-place finish of the season in a home meet Tuesday at the windy CordeValle Golf Course.
Gilroy took first-place honors with a 222 team score, and Hollister was one point behind.
Live Oak finished with a score of 227, just one behind third place Salinas. Alvarez capped the scoring with a 254. The top individual was Lindsay Sheen of Salinas with a 44.
Nikki Green led the Acorns with a 51. Stephanie Chak had a 54. Both Anne Troll and Maggie Taylor finished with a 61. Alexi Gonzales shot a non-qualifying 67.
Volleyball
Although Live Oak lost 22-25, 19-25, 25-16, 23-25 to Leland in the home opener Thursday, the Acorns showcased a strong tenacious defense.
The Acorns (8-6) came up with several nice sliding saves in the game. Justine Pingue made several of those saves.
On one play, she picked up a tough ball, and Juliette Bowers was able to make an off balance hit over the net from the far end of the court for a point. Tiven Catrett lofted a ball that dropped in untouched from one end of the court all the way to another for a point.
After starting off the first two games with a losses, Live Oak came back and took a 6-0 lead. The serves of Whitney Phares helped Live Oak extend the lead.
But Live Oak got off to a tough start in the third game as Leland came up with some tips and tough serves Live Oak couldn’t return.
The Acorns down 8-1, eventually came back to take a 23-22 lead.
