Four Acorns, three Bulldogs named to all-league lists
If stats were common for defenders in field hockey, they probably couldn’t capture the kind of season Live Oak’s Lauren Drewniany had in the Santa Teresa Division this fall.
For her intense play and resilient work ethic, the Acorn’s lead defender has been named Senior of the Year by division coaches, following up the Junior of the Year award she captured a year ago. Drewniany was the only defender named to the all-league list for special recognition.
“It’s rare to go back to back as Junior and Senior of the Year and even more rare to do it as a defender,” fourth-year Live Oak coach Gina Sanders said. “It’s hard to show how important a defender is when they have forwards and midfielders with all these stats.
“That shows how much the other coaches remember playing against Lauren. It’s a huge honor. I’m very excited and happy for her.”
Drewniany helped the Acorns (12-8 overall) finish 9-5 in league — good for third place — and earn their first Central Coast Section playoff berth under Sanders.
Live Oak opened the tournament with an upset of Branham then lost to eventual champion Los Gatos in the quarterfinals.
The Acorns led the Santa Teresa-title race for most of the regular season before fading in the final two weeks. They still made a killing at the all-league meeting, as three Live Oak players earned first-team honors and two made the second team.
Along with Drewniany, Kirsten Doting was named to the first team following an impressive junior season at midfield. Doting excelled as a defender during her first two years on varsity but made a bigger impact this fall at midfield. Her devastating hits created scoring opportunities almost at will.
Doting led the team in assists.
“She’s so strong and has such great range,” Sanders said. “She was nervous at first about switching to midfield. But once she did, she saw how perfect it was for her.”
Junior Anisha Patel and Michaela Swensen were named first- and second-team all-league, respectively, rounding out an award-winning trio of midfielders who will be back next year for Live Oak.
Acorns forward Catherine Sparling wrapped up a solid prep career with a second-team nod.
“She came a long way since freshman year,” Sanders said. “The effort she put in was really good, and it showed.”
Jessica Naranjo’s first season as coach at Sobrato was made easier by seniors Andrea Salem, Udoka Okafor and junior Caitlin Ryman.
Naranjo called them her “coaches on the field,” and they were pretty good players, too. All three earned West Valley Division honors, with Salem making the first team at midfielder, and Okafor and Ryman the second as sweeper and forward.
Naranjo coached Salem at the JV level the past two years before both moved up to varsity.
“She actually helped me a lot. She convinced me I could do this,” Naranjo said. “She did all she could to help the team function.”
As the last line of defense next to the goalie, Okafor was known as “The Wall” to opposing West Valley coaches.
“Her skills were amazing, but her attitude was everything. Udoka never missed a practice,” Naranjo said.
Ryman could be a team captain in the making. She showed great leadership this fall while making a smooth transition from midfield to forward.
“She always wanted to go the extra mile,” Naranjo said. “Sometimes at practice, we’d get done with one drill, and Caitlin would ask right away, ‘What’s next? Can we go run?’ The rest of the team would get mad at her.”
Sobrato placed fifth in league at 5-7.
