After the first half of league play, there is no mistaking which
team is best in the West Valley
MORGAN HILL — In his 11 years of coaching boys soccer at Live Oak High, Tony Goble has learned to respect superstition.
You would never guess that Goble, a stern-faced, get-to-the-point kind of guy with a loosely kept crew cut and steely-blue eyes would flinch at things like black cats and broken mirrors, but bad luck happens to good people and good teams.
So, Goble remained on guard this week at LOHS, where news of his soccer club’s rise to the top of the West Valley Division dominated conversations with his physical education students.
“Is your team going to win again today?” one student asked.
“I just hope we play well,” Goble responded.
Goble also hopes his players continue taking their Cinderella season one game at a time. That’s not to say Goble coaches the same way.
Tuesday, he waited until the second half to rotate his lightning-quick junior, Alejandro Diaz, to left forward, a move that sparked the deciding goal of a 1-0 victory over Santa Teresa in the drizzly Outdoor Sports Center. Diaz created two more scoring opportunities, beating defenders to through balls. His switch to left forward was the latest of several “sneak attacks” Goble conjures up in advance to surprise his next opponent.
In the wake of three straight losing seasons, the Acorns (3-2-6 overall, 3-0-2 league) have caught the West Valley off guard.
“You have to keep the other teams guessing,” Goble said Tuesday. “We had Alejandro playing there the first four games of league, but you never know who’s scouting or watching film. You have to throw different alignments into the mix. That’s working for us.”
The players have always trusted Goble’s strategy, even in nonconference play when Live Oak finished 0-2-4. The mid-December addition of Ubaldo Lopez, who joined the team after making grades, helped the Acorns find their finishing touch in time for league. By January, their ties were turning into wins.
“We always knew what we had,” defenseman James Walker said. “It just takes a little extra work to get that goal you need. If we’re all working our hardest, we’re scoring goals.”
Live Oak netted six consecutive tallies during back-to-back victories over Pioneer and San Jose, then gave up a late equalizer in a 2-2 tie with Evergreen Valley.
The Acorns overtook first place with an impressive 2-0 triumph over previously unbeaten Silver Creek and successfully defended it against Santa Teresa (4-2-3, 2-2-1).
With eight matches left, Live Oak is in the driver’s seat to win the Blossom Valley Athletic League C group, which produced last year’s Division III Central Coast Section champion, Prospect.
“It’s exciting right now,” forward Dylan Frechette said. “Our confidence is high, but we’re not looking ahead. We have to keep doing what we’re doing, working hard and playing our best.”
Tuesday, Frechette scored the game-winner in the 73rd minute, capping an impressive sequence that was part hustle, part poise. Walker started it when he saved a ball at the left side line. The junior slid-kicked it 20 yards upfield to Diaz, who blasted it directly into his defender, David Choi. The ball found Frechette, and the senior dribbled to within 10 yards of the net before making a cut to shake Santa Teresa’s Edwin Rojas. Frechette turned and fired. Rojas slid to screen but deflected the ball to the right of goalkeeper Alex Raymond — and into the left corner of the net.
“I was expecting to get the ball one way or the other,” Frechette said. “Alejandro’s a good player. He’s the fastest guy out there.”
Diaz, whose penalty-kick goal lifted his team past Silver Creek, nearly made it 2-0 three minutes later, playing another ball that Walker stopped at the line. This time, Diaz sprinted by Choi but was forced to shoot from a sharp angle; he missed high.
“Having Alejandro on the left side really helped in the second half,” Walker said. “Usually, if I want to pass to him, I have to go across field and through a defender or two. He was right in front of me on the left.”
Goble, whose team is trying to make the CCS playoffs for the first time in four years, isn’t sure where he will put Diaz next. He likes the starting grid the Acorns typically use, though he admitted the Saints dominated most of Tuesday’s match.
“We were outplayed for the first 60 minutes, but we created opportunities to score. Things are clicking like that for us,” Goble said before stopping himself.
“But I’m trying to downplay our success. I don’t like to talk about it.”
After all, it is bad luck.
