Acorns, Bulldogs play to scoreless draw in girls soccer
MORGAN HILL — Paul Nishimatsu is still waiting for win No. 1 against Live Oak, but he didn’t mind watching his Lady Bulldogs draw even with the Acorns again Thursday.
It could have been worse.
“This feels just like a win,” Sobrato’s third-year coach said with a smile after the rival soccer teams played to a scoreless tie at the chilly Outdoor Sports Center. “We’ve never been able to beat them, but this is a good feeling.”
The outcome did justice to the evenly played nonleague thriller, which featured solid defensive work and clutch goalkeeping by Sobrato’s Maggie Cropp — four saves — and Live Oak’s Selena Braun and Gladis Covarrubias — four saves combined.
Both backlines rose to the challenge of stopping their opponent’s dangerous midfielder-forward tandems. The Bulldogs (1-0-1 overall) limited Fabi Diaz and Megan (1-0-1) slowed Janelle Cisneros and Jennae Cambra, who was coming off a three-goal performance against Willow Glen.
“We needed to stay strong in the middle, because their midfielders are very good. We were able to accomplish that,” Nishimatsu said. “They have a couple of really strong players we were trying to key on and contain.”
Cambra and Rauschnot took four close shots on goal apiece and nearly pushed their teams ahead with crossing passes in the second half. Rauschnot sent in a ball that was just out of reach of Diaz and Monica Luna in the 46th minute. Three minutes later, Cambra bicycle-kicked the ball to Jennifer Alvarez, whose header was punched over the crossbar by Covarrubias.
“I did like the way our defense shut down Jennae, whose a very, very good player; she’s fast and all that,” Live Oak coach Tony Vasquez said. “Sobrato has some great players and they get them the ball.
“Defensively, we didn’t give them a chance to do much. We didn’t give (Cambra) too many opportunities.”
Cropp, a sophomore, stopped two of Rauschnot’s shots from inside 15 yards. The first save came in the third minute, when Rauschnot one-timed a pass from Amanda Morgan. In the 64th, Rauschnot blew past a defender down the left sideline and fired from 11 yards out. Cropp was ready at the near post.
“Maggie is always huge,” said Nishimatsu, who, as head coach, is 0-2-2 all time against the Acorns. “She’s just amazing.”
Vasquez wasn’t thrilled with his team’s performance, attributing misques to early-season rust. One of his projected standouts, Tiffany Greer is away playing club soccer.
“We’re playing around with the lineup right now,” Vasquez said. “When she comes back, we’ll probably move Fabi back up top. They’re not used to playing where they are now.
“I think both teams gave a solid effort trying to win.”
GIRLS BASKETBALL
LO hosts SHS Tuesday
The Lady Acorns host a nonleague rivalry game against Sobrato at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Live Oak Gym.
Both teams are looking for their first win.
NOTE: Because of a mistake on MaxPreps.com, an earlier version of this article reported the local Live Oak girls basketball team lost 48-37 to Central Catholic on Saturday. Although the score showed up on the Lady Acorns’ MaxPreps Web site, it was a different Live Oak team that played. Morgan Hill’s Live Oak team was still 0-1 going into Tuesday’s game against Sobrato.
