Welcome back to the Central Coast Section playoffs, Live Oak
High water polo. Both the Acorn boys and girls water polo teams
rolled to Tri-County Athletic League championships on Saturday at
Live Oak High, finishing the regular season and league tournament
undefeated en route to another date with the CCS postseason
tourney.
Welcome back to the Central Coast Section playoffs, Live Oak High water polo.
Both the Acorn boys and girls water polo teams rolled to Tri-County Athletic League championships on Saturday at Live Oak High, finishing the regular season and league tournament undefeated en route to another date with the CCS postseason tourney.
The Live Oak boys, who begin CCS Division I play this Saturday, swept a TCAL tourney doubleheader last weekend by defeating Robert Louis Stevenson 23-7 and Hollister-San Benito 17-7 for the league title.
Meanwhile, the Live Oak girls, who advanced to the finals with wins earlier in the week, beat Santa Catalina 9-4 to take another TCAL title and advance into the section playoffs.
The No. 7 seed Acorn girls (22-6 overall) will now host a rematch with the No. 10-seeded Santa Catalina team (20-4) on Wednesday at 3pm in the first round of the CCS playoffs.
The No. 4 seed Acorn boys (21-9) start their CCS playoff bid by playing No. 5 Mt. Pleasant (18-11) on Saturday at 9:20am at Independence High in San Jose.
In last Saturday’s TCAL tourney final, the LO boys were faced with a surprisingly tough Haybalers effort. Live Oak led by just a single goal after a quarter against a solid Baler defense, then pulled out to a five-point lead at the half.
All that changed in the second half when Live Oak’s talent shinned. The Acorn lead increased to eight and by the fourth quarter, it was over.
Live Oak coach Mack Haines noted how well the Balers played, saying both teams know each other real well from previous league matches and a tough match was welcome.
“I thought Hollister played a nice game,” Haines said. “They did some real good things.”
Despite the loss, Baler head coach Tom Agan said he was pleased with the effort his boys showed.
“These guys played their hearts out,” Agan said. “This is the closest we played them all season.”
Live Oak’s Ryan Gautschi led the scoring with nine goals against Hollister-SB, finishing the tournament with 16.
In the semifinal, Gautschi scored seven goals and Justin Short had six as the Acorn boys quickly pulled to an insurmountable lead over RLS, scoring nine unanwered goals. The LO boys led 15-4 at the half.
Like the boys, the LO girls struggled to get a rhythm going in their final against Santa Catalina.
“We had numerous opportunities to put the game away,” said Acorn coach Bryan Traverso. “We had a couple of mental mistakes that gave them some goals.”
The entire game was a defensive battle, with Live Oak scoring just two goals in the first quarter and three more in the second.
Fortunately for the local team, the Cougars could only notch three goals of their own.
In the second half, led by a Ronni Gautschi charge, the LO girls racked up four more goals while yielding three to hold off Santa Catalina for the match and the TCAL title.
Spirits are high going into CCS, with the LO girls team hoping to make a strong showing, Gautschi said.
“We are hoping to go all the way,” Gautschi said.
Last season, the LO boys won a first-round CCS playoff match before falling in the second round, while the Acorn girls dropped their section playoff opener.
Other area teams involved in the CCS playoffs include the No. 2-seeded Salinas boys (17-6), who will play No. 7 Leland (11-18) in its Division I opener on Saturday at 10:40am at Independence High; and the No. 14 Hollister-SB girls, who will play at No. 3 Palo Alto (24-6) today at 3pm.
Ironically, though the Salinas boys team lost to Live Oak during the regular season and finished third in the TCAL tourney, the Cowboys ended up seeded higher than the Acorns due to a quirk in the CCS seeding rules.
