After beating defending Central Coast Section champions in
consecutive matches in early December, then taking a few weeks off,
the Live Oak High girls soccer team will be tested this
weekend.
After beating defending Central Coast Section champions in consecutive matches in early December, then taking a few weeks off, the Live Oak High girls soccer team will be tested this weekend.
The Acorns will play in the gargantuan 30-team Tri-Valley Classic tournament in Walnut Creek.
Live Oak (3-1-2 overall) were scheduled to take on Miramonte of Orinda in its tourney opener at Acalanes High on Thursday.
The tourney is sponsored by Las Lomas, Monte Vista and San Ramon high schools, and has grown exponentially in the past few years in both numbers and prestige, according to Live Oak coach Tony Vasquez.
“It’s a big tournament and it’s getting bigger and bigger,” Vasquez said. “This should get us ready for league.”
Live Oak will begin play in the “B” bracket of the event’s Maroon Division, which represents half of the teams at the tourney. The Acorns are matched up against Miramonte and La Jolla Country Day School in its bracket.
The Acorns are scheduled to play La Jolla at 11 a.m. today at Acalanes High.
Other teams in the Maroon Division include: tourney co-host Las Lomas of Walnut Creek, Liberty of Brentwood, Berkeley, Campolindo of Moraga, Francis Parker of San Diego, Deer Valley of Antioch, College Park of Pleasant Hill, Granada of Livermore and American of Fremont.
Local Gold Division teams include: Leland and Santa Teresa of San Jose, and Soquel.
Most of the tourney teams hail from East bay high schools.
If the Acorns can advance past bracket play, it would qualify for the championship round on Saturday.
In last season’s Classic, the Acorn girls went 1-3 in tourney play and are looking to improve on that showing in this year’s event.
Live Oak struggled early in the season before finding its stride in victories over West Catholic Athletic League power Presentation and Santa Cruz.
Both the Panthers and the Cardinals feature strong programs that won section titles last year.
The tourney will be the Acorns’ final non-league action before they kick off their Tri-County Athletic League schedule at Hollister-San Benito on Thursday, Jan. 8.
