Live Oak seeded No. 9 heading into CCS playoffs this week; face
defending division II champions Archbishop Mitty in first round
Morgan Hill – Heading into the first round of the Central Coast Section playoffs, the Tri-County Athletic League Champion Live Oak Acorns boys soccer team has their work cut out for them.
The Acorns, seeded No. 9, head to San Jose on Wednesday afternoon to take on the Archbishop Mitty Monarchs, who are seeded No. 8. The Monarchs are the CCS Division II defending champions.
Live Oak, who maintained first place in the TCAL wire to wire this season, will need to be firing on all cylinders for the CCS playoffs as they are in an extremely tough bracket. For instance, should the Acorns beat Mitty in their first round matchup, they would face the winner of the Soledad and Hillsdale match. Soledad is No. 16 seed, facing No. 1 seeded Hillsdale.
Defense will be a key for the Acorns as it has been all season. Live Oak only allowed 10 goals all season in the TCAL and had six shutouts in league play.
Live Oak Acorns clinched the TCAL title last Tuesday with their 3-0 victory over the Sobrato Bulldogs and ended their season with a 1-1 against the Salinas Cowboys in Salinas on Thursday evening.
First place Live Oak and the second place North Salinas Vikings (10-5-3, 8-2-2 TCAL) advance into the playoffs from the TCAL.
Live Oak has had at least a few days of much needed rest before the first round of the CCS playoffs on Wednesday.
“It’s a long season and it’s tough losing kids to injury,” said Goble. “We’ve got to play hard for two halves to have success.”
