Live Oak nearly steals win from Santa Teresa, settles for 1-1 tie

Shannon Rauschnot had a chance to hand Live Oak a stunning win over Santa Teresa when she was awarded a penalty kick in stoppage time.
Her shot was on target, but so was Santa Teresa’s keeper, who made a diving save forcing the Acorns to settle for a 1-1 tie.
Rauschnot’s PK attempt was the final salvo in what had been an extremely chippie game that featured four yellow cards — two on each side.
“We’ve got to keep our heads, especially when we’re down 1-0, we can’t let the referee dictate the play. We can’t let them get to you. Sometimes their emotions got the better of them,” said coach Tony Vasquez.
Jawing back and forth between players led to several warnings from the ref and yellows for both teams. The frustration spilled over after the game when a parent of a player sarcastically taunted the officials for allowing the penalty kick.
The foul that led to the penalty kick drew a yellow for Santa Teresa.
In fact, that yellow may have taken Live Oak out of its rhythm for the goal. Although both teams were lined up ready for the kick, they had to wait for the player to exit the field.
“I think because we had to wait so long for them to get their player off, it messed it up. If we had just taken it then, we might have scored,” said Holly Hopwood, who scored Live Oak’s equalizer in the 71^st minute.
Regardless, the Saints’ keeper had several tough saves, including three in the first minute of the game.
Live Oak had pushed the ball through the defense on a counter and had an open look at the net.
The keeper came to the top of the box and deflected the first shot from Karlie Juarez. Ally Salzwedel came in to attack the rebound, but her shot went right into the keeper, but it too was deflected and not stopped.
Hopwood gave it a third go that was also blocked and ultimately cleared.
The tide quickly turned against Live Oak, as Santa Teresa nearly netted a free kick in the sixth minute before scoring the first goal of the game in the 13^th minute off a corner kick that was tapped in.
“The ball bounced several times in that area, then someone got a foot on it or kicked it out, so defensively they did well, they did their job to get the ball out,” Vasquez said.
From then on, while Santa Teresa controlled the pace for much of the first half, there was only one other shot that had a strong chance at going in. Keeper Macey Linder did all she could to knock down a kick from the top of the box, then had to scramble to prevent the Saints from scoring on a rebound.
The second half, the momentum shifted. Live Oak began to play aggressively and forced the action in the Saints’ zone for much of the period.
“The whole second half I felt like we gave a solid effort. Not just playing hard, but playing smart. That was one of my key things I’ve been expressing to the girls: I like your work rate, but let’s play smart.”
Hopwood made the effort paid off with her shot on a pass from Rauschnot, but Hopwood nearly tied the game two minutes earlier than she did. She had charged the net on a corner kick and nearly headed the ball in during the 69^th minute that was just deflected wide.
Live Oak now has four games left in the regular season, beginning with Willow Glen 5 p.m. Tuesday. The Acorns will then finish out the season with three straight home games.