This is the time of the year that coaches are bringing out their
calculators and checking their team’s position among the rest of
the league to determine their playoff status.
Several of the Haybaler winter teams are aiming for league
championships and beyond.
This is the time of the year that coaches are bringing out their calculators and checking their team’s position among the rest of the league to determine their playoff status.
Several of the Haybaler winter teams are aiming for league championships and beyond.
The San Benito girls soccer team has four games to go in the next two weeks before the Central Coast Section playoffs begin. With a 4-1-1 league record, the Balers are sitting behind division leader Live Oak (5-0-1).
The Acorns have given up just one goal this season – to the Balers – and are not looking like they will lose again.
Live Oak soccer coach Tony Vasquez questioned why a team would sit back and just play defense all game and not try to score. But it was a smart move on the Balers’ part against a team like Live Oak that doesn’t allow many goals in league games.
Even though the game ended with neither team scoring, that defensive strategy might have been the only way the Balers could have won that game Tuesday.
With Jenny Maheu out with the old cleat-to-the-ankle injury, Rose Vandenberg was left to try to create for herself – although she has shown that she is quite capable of doing just that this year.
Vandenberg (18 goals) and Maheu (17 goals) are almost unstoppable when working together. There are only two other players in the Tri-County, Monterey Bay, Mission Trial or Santa Cruz leagues who have scored more than the Baler forwards – Lacy Cobb of Santa Catalina (26) and Miyra Cruz of Alisal (25).
The tie gives the Balers a little more leverage against Salinas, who is right on the their heals with a 4-2 TCAL record. However, the Cowboys still have to play Live Oak one more time.
The Balers beat Salinas the first time around, but it was one of their closest wins of the season. The two teams play again at Salinas on Feb. 6.
Sometimes soccer coaches are criticized for being too defensive minded. But in soccer, all it usually takes to win is one or two goals. And a goal scored against you is like giving up 20 points in a basketball game. It is hard to regain the momentum after that.
The soccer seeding meeting is Feb. 14. The top 32 boys teams make the playoffs, and the top 36 girls teams make the playoffs. There are two division for the boys and three for the girls, which are based on the school’s enrollment.
The top two TCAL teams qualify for the playoffs, while other teams can be selected for an at-large berth based on their performance and complex formulas that factor in what type of league the team is in and how the team did during the season.
The San Benito boys team has had its share of hard losses this year in a very tough and competitive league. Although the Balers are in last place in the league, the team has been in every game this season.
In their four league losses, the Balers have lost by a combined total of five goals. They have the talent to make a run, but they haven’t been able to make the most of their talent.
The Baler wrestling team is still looking up at Gilroy for a league title. But the team still has a chance to make some noise in CCS.
Both the boys and girls basketball teams should make the playoffs this year with their strong preseason records. And both teams have put together two nice wins in league.
The boys team is staring up at the 16-2 upstart Live Oak team. The Balers will also have to get by Salinas, who is looking like a contender again this year. The two teams will meet Thursday in Salinas.
Notre Dame is the team for the Lady Balers to beat. Both teams won their first two league games.
