Unbeaten in its last 26 games, Live Oak (4-0-2) opens league
play Wednesday at home against Westmont
MORGAN HILL
Tony Goble isn’t ready to crown his team the Santa Teresa Division champion or hang up a section-championship banner in the Live Oak High School gym just yet.
But he’s as fired up as Tony Goble gets for his Acorns following their exceptional run through nonleague play. They concluded it with a 1-1 victory in penalty kicks over Yerba Buena in the Homestead Christmas Cup consolation final played Dec. 21 at Homestead High School. And with that, the veteran-heavy Acorns moved to 4-0-2 with two wins and a tie against teams that reached the Central Coast Section playoffs last winter.
They begin Santa Teresa play at 3:15 p.m. Wednesday against Westmont.
“I’m very excited and very happy for them,” Goble said of his players. “It was good to see where we were and, in each game, we got to see what we needed to work on. There’s still some areas that need improvement.
“We’ve had a good run, but we’re putting it behind us. We need to focus on our next 14 games.”
Not to be confused with the last 26. That is how many consecutive matches the Acorns have won or tied — penalty-kick losses count as draws — dating to Dec. 12, 2009.
Opposing teams might care more about the streak that Goble’s players.
“I don’t think it matters to them much. They never talk about it at practice,” the 12th-year LOHS coach said.
“We’re in a position now where we’ve put ourselves on the map. Other teams aren’t going to take us lightly. They’re going to increase their intensity. We need to play that much harder every game.”
Live Oak had a chance to play for the Homestead Cup title on Dec. 21 but lost to Watsonville in a semifinal penalty-kick shootout early that day. The Acorns regathered mentally and physically for the afternoon game against Yerba Buena, which reached the CCS Division II semifinals in 2009-10.
Live Oak took an early lead with a goal by Alejandro Diaz, who played a nice pass by Andrew Whitling on a counterattack, and was in control until the Aztec Warriors pulled even in the 71st minute.
“We played well until those last nine minutes,” Goble said. “We gave up a goal we wish we could have had back. We had three or four other opportunities to score, so we played well.”
Offensively, the Acorns have spread the wealth this winter, reaping points by several different players. Any one of them — be it their swift forwards Alejandro and Alexis Diaz, or heady midfielders like Ben Hartl and Jacob Montoya — can step up.
Defensively, Live Oak has been collapse-proof, though, Yerba Buena did eventually score by pressing the entire second half.
“We got to see where we fit into the mix against a team from (the Blossom Valley Athletic League A division),” Goble said. “We’re a team that goes out and plays hard the whole way.”
