Live Oak didn’t have to wait for the end of the Leigh/Branham game to know if it will own a share of the league championship, but the Acorns still had a lot riding on the outcome of the later contest.
And they have Alissa Pham to thank for that.
Live Oak was awarded a penalty kick in the 77th minute of its game against Leland and she converted to give the Acorns a 1-1 tie Thursday.
Live Oak needed a win to remain in the hunt for a Mt. Hamilton title, but the tie could still allow the Acorns a chance at second place with a Leigh win or tie.
Leigh and Branham kicked off at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Leland, meanwhile, was fighting for its playoff life on Thursday, needing a win to secure a guaranteed spot into CCS and not have to hope for other teams to lose to make its road easier.
“Leland was in the fourth spot, so they needed to win this game. I told my girls, you have to match the intensity level, and Leland just wanted it more to get into the playoffs,” said coach Tony Vasquez.
Leland and Santa Teresa came into the day knotted in fourth place, but the Saints defeated Pioneer to take sole possession of fourth, and knocking the Chargers out of the automatic berth.
The Chargers held strong most of the game, using stifling defense in the first half to deny Live Oak much of any scoring opportunities.
Live Oak’s defense traded blow-for-blow, keeping Leland out of any true scoring opportunities in the first half.
That changed in the second when the Acorns began to get more aggressive on offense. Leland’s defense held tough and eventually opened counter attack opportunities midway through the half.
“They definitely came ready to play and took it to us in the first half and half of the (second) half,” Vasquez said. “And after they scored, (Live Oak) started looking at things differently. They (Leland) were possessing the ball real well for most of the game, whereas we were just trying to hit home runs.”
Meghan Scudero broke the scoreless deadlock when she got behind Live Oak’s defense and pushed one past the Acorn keeper in the 59th minute.
It wasn’t Leland’s only scoring opportunity either.
In the 54th minute, Claire Giacalone made a nice play on a ball to keep it from going in after it bounced past Macey Linder. Linder then recovered and smothered the ball to deny a goal.
“Macey has come up big for us the whole season. I think having a goalie coach in Dave working with her everyday, I think she has so much confidence this whole year,” Vasquez said.
Linder had four strong saves in the second half that allowed the Acorns to keep the game at a single goal deficit.
“I thought in the first half we had the better opportunities, even though they had the better possession. We didn’t capitalize on it,” Vasquez said. “It happens. I’m just glad our girls fought back to get back into the game.”
It ultimately paid off late when Live Oak’s chances started paying off in goal opportunities.
Twice in the 67th and 69th minutes, Pham had chances in front of the net and both times she wasn’t able to get clean shots off.
In the 70th minute, Shannon Rauschnot had a good look on a breakaway, but her shot went high.
Two minutes later, Pham managed to beat the Leland keeper, but her shot sailed.
But with Live Oak firmly entrenched in the Leland zone, it was hard for the Chargers to make the Acorns leave.
And then things almost got ugly.
Leland was called for a hard foul that led to a yellow for Kelsey Chope and a free kick for the Acorns about 15 yards out of the box. While the official’s back was turned, there was pushing and shoving going on at the top of the box and left Leland screaming for a foul.
None came.
On the ensuing kick, Leland was whistled for pushing inside the box and Pham was awarded her free kick.
The Chargers made a mad rush in stoppage time to steal the game, but came up empty.
Live Oak is assured a CCS berth thanks to finishing no worse than third in the division.
The Acorns need Branham to lose or tie to go up to second.
Live Oak will learn its CCS seed Saturday afternoon.
Vasquez said he hopes his girls will learn from Leland and come out with a strong focus to kick off CCS.
“This was definitely a CCS type level in the intensity level. We just got to match intensity,” Vasquez said.
