The Live Oak field hockey team was locked up in another intense
battle Wednesday against Presentation and moved to 2-1-1 in the
BVAL’s Santa Teresa Division with a 2-0 home win over the
Panthers.
Morgan Hill – The Live Oak field hockey team was locked up in another intense battle Wednesday against Presentation and moved to 2-1-1 in the BVAL’s Santa Teresa Division with a 2-0 home win over the Panthers.
The first half was highlighted by a short corner in which Lexy Nuno punched home a goal on an assist by Taylor Sutton. Sutton also provided some terrific defense by shutting down the Presentation forwards as they tried to go to the goal.
Kami Tersini gave the Acorns some breathing room when she scored in the second half and that 2-0 lead held up.
Live Oak dominated the majority of the game due to the hard work of offensive players Rebecca Webb, Sarah Whitling and Brooke Willis, who got the ball up the field. The defensive line also played strong by clearing the ball down line and having strong free hits.
Girls Tennis
Morgan Hill – Live Oak is improving as the season goes along, but still dropped another match to a tough Independence team.
Rachelle Abbey and Kalea Cleeton earned victories for the Acorns in the 5-2 loss. Abbey won her match 6-2, 6-3 and Cleeton won 6-2, 6-4.
“The other teams definitely have more depth,” Live Oak coach Jennifer Yoder said. “The girls definitely have improved a lot as a team. They’re plugging away, they’re having fun.
Cleeton, a sophomore who plays No. 4 singles for the Acorns, has had a solid year so far, winning three of her matches.
“She’ll be going up the ladder,” Yoder said. “She’ll be taking on the No. 1 or No. 2 slot next year.”
Cross Country
San Jose – Live Oak and Oak Grove squared off Monday in a “friendly” cross country meet, one that does not count in the league standings.
The Acorns girls squad continued its strong performance, beating the Eagles 24-31. The boys team fell to Oak Grove 23-33.
Sophomore Olivia Duran continued to pace Live Oak. She was second overall and first on the team with a time of 21:12. The Acorns’ next placer was Vanessa Santoya, finishing in fourth place with a time of 26:52. She was closely followed by Stephanie Armstrong, who claimed the fifth spot in a time of 27:06. The sixth and seventh placers were also Acorns, including Zahra Deosaran with a time of 28:24 and Tara Benner with a time of 30:45.
Girls’ coach Norm Dow was ecstatic with their performances.
“Some of these girls normally run JV, however today they ran and competed as varsity athletes,” Dow said. “I look forward to their continued progress. Olivia can break 21 minutes, and Tara’s goal is to now break 30 minutes. We’re young, but we’re hungry and improving. We didn’t have all our girls available today, and neither did Oak Grove, however next Monday we race them in league. It should be an exciting race.”
On the boys side senior Eric Matsumoto was the first Acorn finisher in a time of 17:47, good for third place overall. Anthony Macadaeg placed fourth in a time of 18:21, followed by a fast-improving Xavier Gonzales in 19:55. Greg Wong was next in ninth place in 20:04, followed by Joey Rodriguez at 20:27.
Boys’ coach Dean C. Raymond stated that “This meet was well timed, since there weren’t any other meets scheduled for this week. This allows the teams to race, rather than get a little rusty.”
Raymond added that while the boys team doesn’t have quite the same talent level as the girls, their attitude has been terrific.
“They’re getting invaluable experience at the varsity level,” Raymond said. “It would be great to see Eric break 17 minutes, and Greg and Joey are ready to race in the nineteens. Trevor Watson is our wildcard. His potential is scary. Next Monday shoould be a PR day for most of the team.”
