The Live Oak boys soccer team nearly saw its undefeated season
go up in smoke last Tuesday.
Hollister – The Live Oak boys soccer team nearly saw its undefeated season go up in smoke last Tuesday.
Or should we say in a slew of yellow cards?
The Acorns and the Haybalers engaged in a battle of one-upmanship in a penalty-marred contest that easily could have swung in the upstart hosts’ favor. Fortunately for Live Oak, disaster was averted with a score off a free kick late in the second half that gave the Acorns a 2-1 victory.
Live Oak head coach Tony Goble knows his team has a bulls-eye on it and will face each oppponent’s A-game this season.
“Every team wants to knock us off,” said Goble. “It’s tough to stay up … [but] we were a good team and we found a way to win.”
After a hard-fought first half ended in a 1-1 tie, the game’s tension seemed to continue brewing during halftime.
The referees set the tone for the second-half fireworks with their apparent willingness to allow the players to settle the contest on the field, allowing them a large amount of leeway in terms of physical contact. San Benito’s Allan Nieves received a yellow card in the first half, but numerous other infractions on both sides of the ball were ignored.
Though the second half began under relatively peaceful auspices, all of that changed in the 56th minute. Once Live Oak’s Rene Hernandez was tackled hard in sea of ‘Balers’ defenders directly in front of the San Benito net without drawing a penalty kick, tempers flared and the quality soccer that had been played disappeared in favor of poor sportsmanship and retribution.
In the 60th minute, ‘Balers sweeper Jose Carlos Vasquez received a red card for up-ending Acorns forward Garrett Frechette, resulting in an ejection that crippled the San Benito defense.
In the next 12 minutes, Live Oak (9-0-2, 3-0 TCAL) was assessed three yellow cards and the ‘Balers their second. And those were only for the worst of the infractions.
The game quickly turned into a melee, forcing both coaches to rotate in bench players. With free kicks awarded at both ends of the field in prime scoring position, it was only a matter of time before the tie was broken.
The ‘Balers (2-5, 0-3 TCAL) narrowly missed a number of opportunities that would have given them the lead, but Live Oak was able to eventually cash in on the penalty-marred sequence.
Acorns midfielder Anthony Avalos chipped a ball in from a free kick just outside San Benito’s box in the 66th minute, a shot that may have found the net if untouched. San Benito goalie Eddie Trujillo saw a fleet of players leap for a header, but couldn’t commit to make a play on the ball without knowing if it would be deflected. Hernandez, the Live Oak defender, gained redemption for his earlier non-call by grazing the ball and sending it into the left corner of the net for the go-ahead score.
“I tried to hit it on goal, on frame,” said Avalos. “It works every time. It threw the keeper off.”
In the 24th minute, Nieves gave the ‘Balers the lead by taking a cross from Oscar Lostanau while running forward and used his momentum to head the ball past Live Oak goalie Sheldon Steenhuis.
Though San Benito dominated much of the first-half possession, the Acorns tied the contest 13 minutes later when Frechette took a lead pass from Avalos to power the ball into the ‘Balers’ net.
Avalos said the Acorns were fortunate to overcome their emotions.
“We got a little riled at times, but calmed ourselves down,” said Avalos. “We brought it together and got the victory.”
Goble knew his team was fortunate to walk away with its undefeated record intact.
“The other team wanted it more than we did–it was pretty obvious the entire 80 minutes,” said Goble. “I told the kids, ‘Yeah, we kind of dodged one today.'”
On Thursday the Acorns (9-0-3, 3-0-1) battled the North Salinas Vikings to a 2-2 tie to remain undefeated in the TCAL.
Live Oak once again mounted a comeback in the second half, after falling behind 1-0 through the first half.
The Acorns continue their quest for the TCAL crown on when they face Sobrato next Thursday.
