For playing less than half the season, Live Oak High
’s A.J. Battel certainly made an impression.
For playing less than half the season, Live Oak High’s A.J. Battel certainly made an impression.
The senior forward led his team in goals, with eight, and generally ramped up the Acorn boys soccer team’s attack with his aggressive play.
For that effort, Battel was named to the all-TriCounty Athletic League’s first team, along with three other Acorns.
“He was definitely a force when we had him,” Live Oak coach Tony Goble said. “At times, he was on a whole other level.”
Battel was joined on the all-TCAL first team by senior goalkeeper Nick Rauschnot, junior Anthony Razouk and junior Hussein Abdullahi, the team captain.
Goble said Rauschnot, a three-year varsity starter, was often the reason Live Oak remained in matches they could very easily have lost had it not been for his acrobatic saves.
Abdullahi, another three-year varsity starter who missed the last three games of the season with an injury, “was a weapon out there and a great defender,” Goble said.
Razouk, according to Goble, is a “sleeper” who showed his skills and versatility by moving from his customary midfield position to forward when Battel was out of the lineup early in the season. Razouk scored seven goals while filling in for Battel.
On defense, Goble said Razouk used his “speed and strength to just shut down the opposing team.”
In the Acorn boys’ first-round Central Coast Section playoff match at Menlo-Atherton, Razouk completely shut down highly touted Bears forward Javier Hill but Live Oak lost 1-0 anyway.
Earning all-league second team honors for the Acorns were senior Trevor Kozacek, junior Hassan Abdullahi, and sopho-mores Garret Frechette and Nick Mott.
Junior Rodney Spencer and sophomore Anthony Avalos were awarded honorable mention for Live Oak.
The Acorn boys finished second in the TCAL standings behind league champion Gilroy before falling in the first round of the CCS playoffs.
