The Live Oak High girls soccer team was in need of a big break
last week.
The Live Oak High girls soccer team was in need of a big break last week.
After a disappointing tie against Hollister-San Benito earlier in the week that underscored their offensive struggles and knocked the Lady Acorns out of sole possession of first place in the Tri-County Athletic League, Live Oak again found itself locked in a scoreless tie — this time with host North Salinas. A tie threatened to knock the Acorns out of first place in league entirely.
But, with just two minutes left in the match, Live Oak got its break. Acorn senior Janae Pimental curved a corner kick into the Viking goal to lift her team to a much-needed 1-0 victory over North Salinas on Thursday last week.
“We are having some serious problems scoring,” Live Oak coach Tony Vasquez said. “That was a big goal.”
The Acorns improved to 5-0-1 in league (9-3-4 overall) and are in a first-place tie with Hollister (5-1-1 in league), which has played one more league game than Live Oak. On Monday, the Acorns were scheduled to play at Gilroy, which is winless in league, but the game was rained out for the second time in the past few weeks. The game was rescheduled for Monday, Feb. 9 at 5:30 p.m.
The Acorn girls are scheduled to host second-place Salinas (5-2 in league) on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. and play at Notre Dame on Friday at 3:30 p.m. this week, before capping the league season with what has turned into a home-and-home series against Gilroy on Monday and Wednesday the following week.
Meanwhile, the Live Oak boys soccer team held off a challenge to its second-place standing in league from North Salinas, downing the visiting Vikings 2-0 on Saturday last week.
Live Oak (4-1-2 in league and 11-5-2 overall) must finish at least second in league to earn a Central Coast Section playoff berth. If the Acorn boys had lost to North Salinas (2-4-1 in league), which entered the match in third place in league, they would have had just a tenuous one-point lead in the TCAL standings.
But the Acorns got goals from Trevor Kozacek — in the first half off an assist by AJ Battel — and Hussein Abdullahi — in the second half, again assisted by Battel — to hold off North Salinas.
This week, Live Oak plays at Salinas, which currently occupies second place in the TCAL, on Tuesday at 5 p.m., then hosts Palma on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
The Acorn boys finish off their league season at first-place Gilroy, the No. 2-ranked team in CCS, on Tuesday, Feb. 10 at 5:30 p.m.
