Maybe it was the relief of leaving the month of December. After
last month
’s forfeited matches (due to an ineligible player), key injuries
and just plain uninspired play, the Live Oak High girls soccer team
was in dire need of something positive as Tri-County Athletic
League play approached. On Thursday, the Acorn girls got it,
battling the No. 1-ranked Archbishop Mitty
Monarchs to a 1-1 tie at Live Oak behind a goal by Michelle
McDonald.
Maybe it was the relief of leaving the month of December. After last month’s forfeited matches (due to an ineligible player), key injuries and just plain uninspired play, the Live Oak High girls soccer team was in dire need of something positive as Tri-County Athletic League play approached.
On Thursday, the Acorn girls got it, battling the No. 1-ranked Archbishop Mitty Monarchs to a 1-1 tie at Live Oak behind a goal by Michelle McDonald.
“It was very impressive, especially the way we’ve been playing,” LO coach Tony Vasquez said. “This is great – I couldn’t have asked for anything more. We’ve been so up and down. This is a good feeling going into league.”
Heading into their TCAL opener against Salinas on Monday at 3:30pm at Live Oak, the Acorns (1-6-2 overall) are well-aware of the task before them. Essentially, the defending CCS Division I co-champs must win league again (which they are favored to do for the seventh straight time) if they are to have a shot at repeating their section title. An at-large playoff berth might be a stretch.
“I think it does put some pressure on us,” Vasquez said. “We can’t mess up. We have to take everyone seriously or we won’t make it.”
