League title slips away, CCS berth still at-large today on final
afternoon of Santa Teresa Division play
MORGAN HILL
Lauren Drewniany was distraught. Michaela Swenson looked drained mentally and physically.
How painful can this get?
After losing their Senior Game 1-0 to Leland on Wednesday, the Live Oak field hockey players did their best to smile for an impromptu team photo while the Chargers celebrated at least a share of a Santa Teresa Division championship in the sunlight surrounding Live Oak’s once-unconquerable home field.
Less than a week ago, it was the Acorns’ title to lose. They controlled their own destiny to win that and much more — their first Central Coast Section playoff berth in five years, an easy road to the semifinals — but are now trying to avoid a total collapse today during the final afternoon of regular-season play. To have any chance of making the postseason, Live Oak (9-4 league) likely needs to win or tie on the road against rival Cupertino.
A division title? That dream ended Wednesday on Rebecca Olson’s goal in the 21st minute.
“It hasn’t come together for us like we wanted,” said
Swenson, a junior forward. “Hopefully, it still can.”
When an event that hasn’t taken place in a long time is about to occur, strange things can happen. The Acorns established themselves as the early favorite in the Santa Teresa, riding the hot sticks of Kirsten Doting and Marisa Faust, strong defensive play of Drewniany and clutch goal-keeping by Melissa Sigona to a one-loss effort though the first half of league play.
They lost again shortly after that but were still in the driver’s seat going into their last three games. Two of them were at Live Oak, where the Acorns had not lost in league play this fall.
Monta Vista changed that Friday. The Chargers followed suit.
“It’s not over,” Live Oak coach Gina Sanders said. “The thing is, for two weeks, we’ve been saying, ‘You have to play hard. Keep doing the simple things that got us here.’ The last couple games, we’ve gotten away from some of the basic parts of field hockey.
“It’s really disappointing to watch.”
Assistant coach Brooke Willis, who, as a freshman, was part of Live Oak’s last playoff team, shared the same sentiment.
“It’s disappointing because they worked so hard to get here,” she said. “It’s intense right now. I wish I could play.”
An early goal would be a god-send today; scoring first has been the Acorns’ MO. Against Monta Vista, they rallied from a 1-0 deficit in the first half but could not finish the job. Wednesday, they looked like the faster, more cohesive team until Olson’s shot went through a screen in front of the cage and sneaked by Sigona.
“That’s always a downer we can’t lift off our shoulders,” Live Oak forward Catherine Sparling said. “The pressure of the game causes stress, and we had trouble finishing. We had opportunities, but the perfect moment wasn’t there.”
The Acorns had several scoring chances nullified by obstruction calls, off-target shots or just big stops by Leland (10-2-1). Live Oak came close to pulling even in the 32nd minute when Doting’s shot deflected off a defender, and Sparling smacked the loose ball into the cage only to have the goal negated because of an obstruction call.
The Acorns had several other players like that, where midfielders Anisha Patel, Lysette Abarca and Doting made a nice run or dumped the ball deep into Leland territory, and the Acorns couldn’t find an open shot or a finishing pass.
Live Oak had nine corners to Leland’s four.
“We didn’t have enough urgency in the circle,” Swenson said. “Our mind wasn’t on scoring; it was get the ball and shoot it.”
It’s not a terrible strategy as long as the ball goes in — and early. Should that happen today, the Acorns just might overcome the pressure of trying to clinch a playoff berth on the last day of the regular season and finish what they set out to do months ago, years ago.
What a photo op that would be.
