MORGAN HILL
–– Nothing was put on the scoreboard during the Tri-County
Athletic League opening boys soccer match at Live Oak Friday.
But the Balers may feel a little better about the tie than the
Acorns do.
MORGAN HILL –– Nothing was put on the scoreboard during the Tri-County Athletic League opening boys soccer match at Live Oak Friday.
But the Balers may feel a little better about the tie than the Acorns do.
Even though the Balers were outshot at about a 3-to-1 pace, they were still able to keep the pressure up and create quality scoring chances.
“It was a one-sided game with no scoring,” said Acorn coach Tony Goble. “That was their game plan, and it worked. They played a good game, and we’ve played better this season. We’ve been moving the ball well offensively, but it seems like we can’t finish against good team.”
San Benito’s experience helped it to stay with a younger Live Oak team, said Baler coach Mike Warner.
“We came in feeling we could beat them,” Warner said. “They have a very good team. So this is something we can build on. We’re a veteran team, and we played like a veteran team.”
The Balers, who were trying to prevent Live Oak (7-4-1, 0-0-1 TCAL) from getting any momentum early, went with a defensive formation and worked on the counter attack off of it. In the second half, the Balers (3-4-2, 0-0-1 TCAL) moved the ball around more to get some more scoring opportunities.
“We put in the new scheme, and the players had just three days to work on it,” Warner said. “It took a while for them to get used to. But they worked hard in it.”
The Baler defense was forced to step up numerous times during the game. Gilbert Bailon had a nice sliding save 20 minutes into the game as he came from the inside of the field to the right side to knock the ball away.
“I got lucky,” Bailon said. “It could have been a foul, but I didn’t have any choice. He would have gotten a shot off otherwise.”
Senior defender Willie Sanchez was another one of the Balers who stepped up.
“They were really fast,” Sanchez said. “I was just trying to stay ahead of the plays.”
Midfielder Martin Medina had a solid game defensively, coming up with some nice sliding stops. His older brother Jorge was rock solid in goal, stopping numerous shots.
For most of the first half, whenever San Benito would move the ball toward the opposing net, Live Oak would steal it and move it back the other way again.
The Acorns had a couple good chances to score after consecutive penalties were awarded toward the end of the first half. One shot bounced off the post, but Medina was able to save it before a rebound was made.
Anthony Avilas had another direct kick a couple minutes later again from the right side, and Medina was able to get just enough of it to knock it away.
San Benito kept the pressure up in the second while rotating different guys in because of cards or injuries. One of the players who was injured was freshman midfielder Jose Vasquez, who had to have stitches above his right eye after contending for a ball along the sideline and getting nudged into the fans, hitting a chair.
“It shows how well the bench can play,” said Warner of his team’s production. “We started pushing with different people in. We were able to spread the field a little more in the second half. We were taking some more risks, but that left the middle open.”
One of the Balers’ better chances to score in the game came in the second half. Jorge Lopez passed a ball ahead to Jesus Ramos, who was able to get a shot on goal. But Live Oak goalie Nick Rauschnot stopped it fairly easily.
In the final minutes of the game, Live Oak picked up the pace. The Acorns came close to scoring on a cross that Medina came out on briefly. But Medina got back and the shot went wide. Another attempt also fell short of the goal.
“We had a lot of plays where we weren’t in position,” Warner said.”We expected them to outshoot us. We had a lot fewer shots, but they were on goal.”
The Balers will be at Gilroy on Wednesday and at North Salinas on Friday.
JV Note: The JV Boys (4-4-1) defeat Live Oak on Friday with a convincing 4-1 victory. The Balers started fast, but it was the Acorns who scored first 3:26 into the game.
However, this was the only goal allowed by first-time goalie Braulio Moreno. He rose to occasion and didn’t allow a goal the rest of the game. The Balers put lots of shots towards the goal, but all missed their mark until the 36:45 mark. Armando Espinoza found a seam and drove a ball in to tie the game at 1-1 at the half.
The second half belonged to the Balers. Miguel Guzman scored three times, two off of crosses from Espinoza. Excellent field play by midfielders Christian Mercado and Ben Fuentes and stopper Ramon Orozco helped provide pressure.
