League bylaws deny Live Oak shot at championship
San Jose – By the time the Blossom Valley Athletic League Mount Hamilton Division tournament championship game rolled around, there was nothing left to win.
According to BVAL bylaws, the league champion is determined by who is in first place before the start of tournament play; in this case, it was Leland.
According to those same bylaws the top two in the league earned the BVAL’s automatic berths for the Central Coast Section playoffs.
So once Live Oak entered the showdown with Leland in Saturday’s championship game, winning the game was a matter of pride.
Despite the circumstances, which head coach Mack Haines said neither team was aware of entering the tournament, the Acorns downed the regular season champions 8-6 in a very physical matchup.
The last time the two schools met, the Acorns blew a two-goal lead with less than a minute to play. Leland emerged victorious after two rounds of overtime.
Saturday, however, Live Oak held its two-goal lead.
“The kids rose to the occasion and made a powerful statement,” Haines said.
And the statement was made short handed.
The Acorns were down starter Mike Wu, forcing backups into a starting role.
“The kids off the bench came up huge,” Haines said. “Eric (McCombs) and Patrick Powers have seen very little playing time and ended up starting.”
After Max Debrushin put Leland up 1-0 in the first quarter, Powers returned the favor to knot the score at 1.
Despite three turnovers in the second quarter, goal keeper Andrew Reimer stopped four of five Leland shots to back up three goals scored by the Acorns.
Reimer finished the game with 16 saves.
He would be put to the test, however, in the fourth quarter when Leland attempted to overcome a 6-3 deficit.
The Chargers began the quarter pressing the Live Oak defense, which held on for nearly two minutes before yielding a goal. Little more than a minute later, Leland was within one score of repeating Oct. 3’s game.
But a pair of goals by Cameron Peachey averted the threat.
Live Oak now advances to the CCS Division II playoffs, where it will play the winner of the Harbor-Valley Christian game on Saturday.
