Local teams win regular-season finales Friday to take first in
respective leagues
MORGAN HILL — They stood equal early this season when Live Oak and Sobrato played to a scoreless tie.
Friday, the local girls soccer teams stood atop the best divisions in the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
The Lady Acorns trounced Santa Teresa 3-0 at Live Oak High, rounding out a whirlwind Mount Hamilton Division title race that saw the league’s newest team take first place outright.
Senior Fabi Diaz buried a penalty kick in her final home game, and Megan Rauschnot and Jada Williams added goals for Live Oak, which leapfrogged Leland for the top spot. Leland fell 1-0 Friday at Branham.
“Right after our game, parents were making phone calls to other people that were at the Leland game. Our girls were pretty happy when they found out,” Acorns coach Tony Vasquez said. “We’ve had some dark days the past four years. The team has gone through so much, coming so close to making the playoffs the last two. To finally get there is a great feeling.”
Hours later, the Lady Bulldogs held off Mount Pleasant 2-1 in the Outdoor Sports Center to earn a share of their second Santa Teresa Division championship in three years and third league crown since 2007. Sobrato, which won a single game last year, tied Westmont for the top spot and will join Live Oak in the Central Coast Section playoffs.
“It’s a little different feeling this time at the end of the year,” said Bulldogs goalkeeper Maggie Cropp, who stopped three shots on net. “I’m especially happy for the seniors, Jazzmin [Ramarez] and Kalyn [Crosier]. They really wanted to go to CCS.”
So much, that they helped their team stave off a Cardinals rally in the second half. Junior forward Jennae Cambra scored in the 15th and 37th minutes for the Bulldogs, but Mount Pleasant’s Nelly Corral answered in the 62nd, one-timing a long free kick.
“I was thinking, ‘I need to put my heart and mind back into this game because we are not losing. We’re going to CCS,'” Ramarez said. “Right now, it’s an amazing feeling for us. We’ve worked hard for this.”
It’s only the second time the Morgan Hill schools produced ‘A’- and ‘B’-league championships in the same sport during the same year. In 2008, Live Oak and Sobrato won respective baseball titles in the Mount Hamilton and Santa Teresa.
The No. 9 seeded Bulldogs (9-2-8 overall, 7-1-6 league) are slated to play a first-round Division II game at No. 8 Aptos at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The winner on Saturday will face No. 1 Los Gatos.
Aptos (9-5-6) took third in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League.
“We have exceeded our expectation,” Sobrato coach Paul Nishimatsu said. “Now, we’re going to try and go as far as we can.”
The Acorns (12-4-4, 10-3-1), winners of five of their last six matches, earned a bye through the opening round of the Division III tournament and will play the winner of Wednesday’s match between No. 10 Pacific Grove (14-5-1) and No. 7 Priory (9-5-6) Saturday for a shot at the semifinals.
As a No. 2 seed, Live Oak is in good position to challenge for its first section championship in six years. The Acorns won their last conference title in 2005.
“We have a good draw,” Vasquez said. “The girls are playing really good right now, so we have an opportunity to do something special. Hopefully, we’ll finish as CCS champions.”
