If there
’s a silver lining in going through a season like last year’s
for the Live Oak High boys soccer team it is that the players who
return are usually the tougher for the experience. Even though the
Acorns finished second in league and made the section playoffs,
Coach Tony Goble called it his “mos
t exhausting season,” largely due to the number of key injuries
and discplinary issues the team had. But if that kind of season
does toughen up those who make it through, this season’s LO boys
team will be tougher than nails.
If there’s a silver lining in going through a season like last year’s for the Live Oak High boys soccer team it is that the players who return are usually the tougher for the experience.
Even though the Acorns finished second in league and made the section playoffs, Coach Tony Goble called it his “most exhausting season,” largely due to the number of key injuries and discplinary issues the team had.
But if that kind of season does toughen up those who make it through, this season’s LO boys team will be tougher than nails. That’s because most of last year’s team is back.
Goble said this year’s squad is so experienced in fact that it allows him to run several different formations to give opposing teams a different look.
Leading the charge will be junior forward Garret Frechette and junior midfielder Anthony Avalos on offense, and senior Anthony Razouk on defense.
Frechette and Avalos both made the Regional Select ODP team, and Frechette made the State Select team, gaining valuable experience.
Joining Frechette upfront will be talented freshman forward Casey Mott, who alrready has three goals this season.
“It’s nice to have some scoring forwards,” Goble said, “especially seeing Garrett come back strong. (Frechette’s) probably the top kid on the team. He’s going to cause a lot of problems on offense. Casey and Garrett will give us a real scoring threat.”
One of the Abdullahi twins, Hussein, will play left mid, while junior Tim Kotyuk has looked good at right mid.
Freshmen Matt Altamirano and Spencer Razouk are also in the mix at the midfield spots.
On defense, the elder Razouk will be joined by Hassan Abdullahi, Nick Mott and Rodney Spencer, with freshman Robert Adam holding an edge over junior Alex Avila in the battle at goalie.
Live Oak lost key seniors AJ Battell, a potent scorer who missed about half last season, and one of the league’s top goalies in Nick Rauschnot off last year’s squad, which finished 13-6-3 overall (second in the Tri-County Athletic League standings to champion Gilroy). The Acorns lost to Menlo-Atherton 1-0 in the first round of the CCS playoffs.
