San Benito Starts Fast, But Acorns’ Two Second-Half Goals Lead
to Loss
Morgan Hill – The San Benito Haybalers boys soccer team came into Morgan Hill gunning for the Tri-County Athletic League’s first place Live Oak Acorns on Tuesday afternoon hoping to beat the lone undefeated team in the TCAL. The ‘Balers (2-9-1, 1-7-1 TCAL) and Acorns (14-0-3, 8-0-1 TCAL) battled through a scoreless first half before Live Oak’s offense stepped up and scored two second half goals, shutting out San Benito 2-0.
“We kept with them. We were able to stop their forwards in the first half. We played good,” said ‘Baler coach Juan Carlos Martinez. “In the second half I moved up another forward and left our midfield short and I guess that was my mistake. Our midfielders got tired and they (Live Oak) were able to control the middle of the field. Live Oak had two good plays and scored on them.”
San Benito’s offense came out fast, outshooting Live Oak in the first half, 4-3. ‘Balers’ Jaime Torres and Christian Mercado created ample opportunities for scores, but were denied by the Acorn defenders.
Live Oak’s offense couldn’t get a clear shot at the San Benito goal in the first half either, as ‘Baler midfielder Gilberto Delgado chased down the Acorn forwards and disrupted passing near the goal.
“We came out kind of flat,” said Live Oak coach Tony Goble. “Our defense keep us in the game and they played well.”
Both teams played tough, extremely physical soccer and with the score tied at 0-0 heading into the second half, emotions were running high.
San Benito came out following halftime determined to score as Oscar Lostanau fired a shot from the left side that was snatched out of the air by Acorn goalkeeper Sheldon Steenhuis.
Live Oak’s offense was just as determined and broke the scoreless tie by finding the back of the ‘Balers net less than five minutes into the second half. Rene Hernandez passed the ball to Anthony Avalos who drilled it past the diving San Benito goalkeeper, Randall Lopez, 1-0.
Following the Acorns goal, the ‘Balers frustration began to show. San Benito’s Armando Espinoza received a yellow card for taking down Live Oak’s Johann Abordo as he was breaking toward the goal.
The Acorns’ offense struck again as forward Garrett Frechette dribbled through San Benito’s defense on the right side and passed to Avalos in the middle, who slammed the ball into the right corner of the ‘Balers goal, 2-0.
From that point on, Live Oak’s defense shut the door on San Benito, not allowing them an open shot. Frustrated, the ‘Balers fought to put pressure on the Acorns. San Benito’s Allan Nieves earned a yellow card for a push on Avalos late in the second half.
The ‘Balers host the Sobrato Bulldogs, who San Benito beat earlier this season, on Thursday at 5:30pm.
“We’ve been working especially on defense,” said Martinez. “We’ve been losing a lot of games because of defensive mistakes. We’ve also been working on our forwards getting pressure. We have to score. Hopefully we’ll get a win against Sobrato.”
