For the first half of the game on Friday, the Live Oak girls
soccer team held one of the best teams in the Blossom Valley
Atgletic League Mount Hamilton Division at bay. However, a couple
of late mistakes by the Acorns led to Leigh’s 3-0 victory.
Morgan Hill – For the first half of the game on Friday, the Live Oak girls
soccer team held one of the best teams in the Blossom Valley Atgletic League Mount Hamilton Division at bay.
However, a couple of late mistakes by the Acorns led to Leigh’s 3-0 victory.
The loss dropped Live Oak’s overall record to 4-11 and 2-9 in league play, while Leigh remained undefeated.
“I thought we played fairly well considering this team is one of the better teams in this league,” said Live Oak coach Tony Vasquez. “I thought we hung in tight, but we gave up some late goals.”
Vasquez said that like the Acorns loss to Piedmont Hills, the team made costly errors in the second half that led to goals. He said the team was
trying to use a counter attack by sending defenders up higher up on the field.
“We’re pressing a little bit and trying to score,” he said. “When you take
some risks, you’re going to leave some open spaces and that’s what leads to the 1-on-1 and 2-on-1 attacks.”
In the first half, the Longhorns pressured the Acorns early and pushed the young team back into its own end of the field. Live Oak’s defense was able to clear the ball and stop shots from making it to freshman goalkeeper Gladis Corvarrueias.
Corvarrueias showed the poise of a veteran goalie by coming out of the net to challenge shots and smothering loose balls before Leigh could get close
enough for a shot.
“She played a lot better,” Vasquez said. “She played with a little more confidence today. I think she is starting to understand that she needs to come out more, and that is what we need.”
Late in the first half, a Leigh shot hit off a Live Oak defender and bounced past Corvarrueias to give the Longhorns a 1-0 lead at halftime.
In the second half, the Acorns moved the ball better on the offensive side and kept the ball out of their zone better than they had in the first half.
Leigh scored midway through the second off a corner kick, but Live Oak kept pressing on offense. The Acorns sent more players up higher in the field, leaving their defenders outnumbered in the back.
Shortly after scoring off the corner kick, Leigh had a 3-on-1 break. Corvarrueias stopped the first shot with a diving save, but a Longhorns player was able to kick in the rebound for a goal.
“I just remember telling myself to come out,” Corvarrueias said about
the play. “I was going to back off, but then I came out and blocked it. When I
got back up the other player was already there.”
As a freshman goalkeeper on a varsity team, Corvarrueias said there is a lot
of pressure on her in net, but that positive support from her teammates has helped her get through the season.
“They’re so much bigger and older,” Corvarrueias said about her
varsity opponents. “There’s a lot of pressure, but my team just tells me not to let them push me around and to just keep up the good work.”
Live Oak had scoring opportunities late in the game, but couldn’t connect or find the back of the goal.
“I thought we could have won,” Corvarrueias said. “We just made
mistakes. We had a good chance (to win).”
