James Lick dealt Sobrato its first division loss of the
season
MORGAN HILL — Sobrato’s undefeated run in league play came to an end Tuesday, but the Bulldogs still held a piece of first place in the Blossom Valley Athletic League Santa Teresa Division after a crazy afternoon of boys soccer.
James Lick blindsided the Bulldogs 3-1 at Sobrato High School on the same day Live Oak topped Leland 1-0 and Yerba Buena edged Willow Glen 4-3. That left James Lick, Sobrato, Live Oak and Willow Glen in a four-way tie for the top spot at 3-1-1.
“We’re still doing all right,” Bulldogs defenseman Adam Guerra said. “We just need to practice hard tomorrow; see what we can do from here.”
After netting all three of their goals in the first half, the Comets held off a torrid attack by Sobrato (6-3-2 overall) in the second.
The Bulldogs got on the board in the 67th minute when Jesus Del Real sent a corner kick to Thomas Torres, who one-timed the ball in for his division-leading 11th goal of the season. The score rewarded an intensified offensive effort. Sobrato was outshot 12-3 in the first half.
“Most of it was not playing with intensity,” Bulldogs coach Ricardo Martinez said. “We were really flat for the first 35 minutes.”
James Lick’s sophomore speedster Fernando Hidalgo netted goals in the 10th and 29th minutes, and Carlos Salazar found the net in the 34th.
“We just weren’t marking up, and they got by us and took some good shots,” Guerra said.
Sobrato came out firing in the second half — but without the right touch.
Dylan Serrano launched a point-blank shot into the far goal post in the 41st minute, then followed with a 10-yard blast that went directly to goalkeeper Filiberto Perez, who had five saves. Del Real came close to scoring two minutes later when he first-timed a cross that split the uprights behind the goal. In the 46th, Torres headed a pass from Cullen Herrington — also gloved by Perez. A minute later, Herrington took a shot that deflected off Perez and straight to Bulldogs forward Shawn Henner, whose rebound try missed wide.
“I don’t think it was the direction of the game in the second half. It was just motivation,” Martinez said. “We came out flat; really lazy. We had to push them a little bit; get them motivated for the second half. We played with three forwards and created some opportunities.
“We won that half. We should have came out playing that way — it would have been a totally different game.”
Sobrato continues league play at home Thursday against Pioneer.
Frechette lifts LO
In San Jose, Live Oak squeezed by Leland with the help of Dylan Frechette’s goal in the first half off an assist from Juan Baca.
The Acorns snapped a three-game winless streak, improving to 5-2-2 overall. They hosted Westmont on Thursday. Results were late by press time.
GIRLS SOCCER
Bulldogs get first win
Sobrato coach Paul Nishimatsu wasn’t kidding when he said his team had plenty of fight left despite an 0-7-3 start.
The Lady Bulldogs claimed their first victory of the 2008-09 season Wednesday, beating Evergreen Valley 3-1 in a BVAL-Mount Hamilton Division game in the Morgan Hill Outdoor Sports Center.
Lindsay Van Keulen scored twice off assists by Kayla Nishimatsu and Maureen King, and Roxana Moreno once off a feed from Rachel Bakin for Sobrato (1-4-1 BVAL).
Acorns tie first-place Willow Glen
Scoring was unavailable, but the Live Oak Lady Acorns drew a 1-1 tie Wednesday on the road against Willow Glen, the BVAL-Santa Teresa Division front-runner.
Live Oak moved to 8-1-1 overall and 4-1-1 in league.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
LO falls at Independence
Live Oak didn’t find its first win against powerful Independence.
The host 76ers sent the Lady Acorns to 0-12 overall and 0-3 in the BVAL-West Valley Division with a 52-22 loss Wednesday.
Individual statistics were unavailable by press time.
