Also, girls soccer teams earn shutouts Tuesday
MORGAN HILL
Live Oak’s Tony Goble firmly believes that good defense can beat great offense on the soccer field any day.
His players couldn’t argue with that Tuesday after they weathered a frantic final 10 minutes to blank Gilroy 1-0 in a Homestead Christmas Cup quarterfinal at Live Oak High School.
“They outplayed us at times, and we scored — I’m definitely happy with the outcome,” Goble said. “We adjusted well. They have a great offense, and we held them scoreless.”
Junior forward Ben Hartl scored in the 35th minute from just inside the penalty area, but the Acorns also needed clutch defense to turn away the rival Mustangs, who moved all 10 of their field players up to or beyond midfield for the closing minutes.
“We stayed in tight,” said Hartl, who netted his first goal this season off a short pass from Jacob Montoya. “We just had to finish strong with good D. We couldn’t rely on our forward defense back there — just had to keep clearing the ball out.”
Senior Eric Saavedra came up a big save in the 61st minute, stopping Jonathan Diaz de Leon’s shot from 12 yards out, for LOHS (4-0-1 overall), which ran its unbeaten streak to 24 games dating to Dec. 17, 2009.
Live Oak survived five shots by Gilroy (2-2-2) in the second half.
“We weren’t getting nervous; we just had to bring more guys and kind of force them to our stronger side,” Acorns defender James Walker said.
“Our defense is pretty good right now. We’re solid. But I think we can be a lot better.”
With a win Dec. 21, the Acorns will play for their first Homestead Cup title in almost a decade.
They have to do it with offense. Because of the Central Coast Section’s tight cap on the number of regular-season games, Live Oak’s next match will be a penalty-kick shootout with the winner advancing to the upper-bracket final.
The loser plays for third place.
“We don’t know who’s going to shoot for us,” Goble said. “We’re going to put all our guys on the line tomorrow and find out.”
GIRLS SOCCER
Live Oak 4, Milpitas 0
Megan Rauschnot collected her first two goals as a junior and had an assist Tuesday for the visiting Acorns (2-0-1), who also received goals from sophomore forwards Monica Luna and Janessa Garcia.
Teammates Amanda Morgan, Tiffany Geer, Sabrina Rice, Jada Williams and Amber Thomas also had assists, and Selena Braun collected five saves for her second straight shutout.
Sobrato 0, San Benito 0
Junior keeper Maggie Cropp earned her second shutout of the season with seven saves Tuesday as the Bulldogs (2-0-2) battled to a scoreless draw with the Balers in the Outdoor Sports Center.
Sobrato coach Paul Nishimatsu says San Benito could challenge Gilroy for the Tri County Athletic League title this winter.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Live Oak will stay close to home this weekend for the annual Bob Hagen Memorial Tournament in Gilroy. The Acorns face the tournament host Mustangs at 6:30 p.m. today and are guaranteed no less than two more games played Friday, Saturday and Sunday if necessary.
The Bulldogs today face Lynbrook in the Prospect Tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Sobrato opened the event Wednesday with a 62-47 loss to Saratoga.
Travis Saenz scored a dozen points, and Scott Taylor had 14, continuing a big month for the senior guard. Taylor scored 25 points in the Bulldogs’ 68-57 over Lick on Dec. 9 and followed that with 15 points against El Camino on Dec. 11.
