Before the first league soccer game is played, Live Oak loses
three top players
Ask any soccer coach in the Tri County Athletic League and
they’ll tell you that Live Oak is the favorite to repeat again this
year as league champs when league play begins this Tuesday
afternoon.
But that may change after they read this article.
Before the first league soccer game is played, Live Oak loses three top players
Ask any soccer coach in the Tri County Athletic League and they’ll tell you that Live Oak is the favorite to repeat again this year as league champs when league play begins this Tuesday afternoon.
But that may change after they read this article.
“It’s still doable, but it’s going to be a lot tougher with all of the injuries that we have had – and no one knows about our injuries yet,” said Live Oak Coach Tony Goble. “They will now, and when they find out they may be smiling.”
But the Acorns aren’t.
In the past week, Live Oak – a team that made it to the Central Coast Section semifinals last year and was undefeated in the preseason this year – lost three All-League players to potential season-ending injuries.
One of those players is Casey Mott, who started at forward last year and was expected to play there again as well as see time on defense, tore the ACL ligament in his knee and will miss the rest of the season.
His brother, senior Nick Mott, who was projected to be the team’s top defender, will have an MRI this week to see if he also tore his ACL. And sophomore Robert Adam, the league’s Freshman of the Year last year, is being examined after having an ongoing bout with chest pains.
“We had a pretty loaded team coming back and a lot of depth,” Goble said. “Now, we don’t have that much depth and we’re just scrapping by.”
Still, even with the injuries, Live Oak still has enough talent to win league, according to Goble.
“I would say that North Salinas could be the favorites from the scouting I’ve done so far,” he said. “But we do have some very special players. Even though we lost three great players, we still have great players.”
One of those players is forward Garrett Frechette, who, along with attacking midfielder Anthony Avalos, are the biggest threats to score in the Acorns’ lineup. Both of them will be back this season.
The Acorns also have one of the best goalies in the area in Sheldon Steenhuis.
“He’s a good leader and a good defender. He’s going to take on Nick Mott’s role a bit for us,” said Goble.
On Tuesday the Acorns open up the TCAL season by traveling to Palma High School to take on the Chieftains.
“They always play tough,” said Goble. “They always have good athletes and they play hard.”
San Benito High School
A year ago the Balers finished dead last in league and failed to make the playoffs. But this year second-year coach Juan Martinez believes that his team’s improved chemistry and work ethic will result in more wins on the playing field.
“We are looking a lot better,” said Martinez, who is upbeat despite not having seen his team in action much this year as a result of having had to cancel a number of preseason games. “We made a lot of mistakes last year, and the kids didn’t play the way that I wanted them to play.”
In addition to better chemistry Martinez has a solid core group of players with enough skills surprise some teams.
One of them is junior goalie Eddie Trujillo.
“He’s always at practice and he’s a good athlete,” said Martinez. “He always tries his best and gives it 100 percent.”
In addition to Trujillo, Martinez also has high expectations for junior midfielder Allan Niebes. A native of Mexico, Niebes moved to the United States just a few months ago.
“He knows how to dribble the ball and pass to forwards,” Martinez said. “He’s going to be a good player.”
One of those forwards that the Mexican newcomer will be trying to pick up is junior Jose Diaz. Martinez likes Diaz’s strong worth ethic and scoring prowess.
“He’s our top scorer,” said Martinez. “He’s a hard worker for us. I would say that our strength this year is more on offense and he is one of the reasons why.”
Defensively the Balers will look to junior sweeper Carlos Vasquez to handle things in the backfield. Martinez decided to put him in the high-profile sweeper role because of his explosive speed.
Another player who will spend the brunt of his time in the backfield is junior Christian Mercado. And when not in the backfield Martinez will rotate him into the midfield positions.
“He’s a good player and he knows what to do out there,” said Martinez. “He’s also our captain.”
Although he lost six seniors from a year ago, Martinez is excited about the team’s new look and has a strategy already in place.
“I especially want to try and win the home games,” he said. “And I’d like to beat Live Oak and Gilroy at least one time each. I don’t want to lose against the strong teams. All of the teams will be difficult but if we don’t make mistakes on defense we could do well.”
On Tuesday the Balers will travel to Gilroy for their first league game of the season. Game time is 5:30 p.m.
Gilroy High School
A year ago the Mustangs were the defending league champions and were coming off a 2003-2004 season that saw them advance all the way to the CCS championship game before losing to Watsonville 3-0.
That year the Mustangs, which finished second in league behind Live Oak, went into the playoffs stacked with talent and with high expectations but were upset in the opening round by Leland High School in a 1-0 contest.
This year the Mustangs enter TCAL play without CCS Player of the Year Alfonso Motagalvan, who played midfield, and Evy Diaz De Leon, who was the top scorer for Gilroy the past two seasons. Both players graduated in May.
This year the Mustangs are a young team with less experience, but that is not necessarily a negative from the coach’s standpoint.
“We have a lot of youth but that is also a strength,” said Gilroy Coach Brain Hall. “We also have a lot of really, really skilled players. In the 20 years that I’ve been coaching I’ve never had a team with so much enthusiasm and excitement.”
Although Diaz De Leon will be missed this year, so far freshman forward Jason Olivo seems to be filling the void nicely. In Gilroy’s first four games Olivo scored four times.
“He’s quick and strong and very coachable,” Hall said. “This kid has big-time potential.”
Another forward to watch this year is senior Jose Pineda. After battling a knee injury most of last season and the early part of preseason, Pineda scored a goal his first game back.
Defensively, the Mustangs will look to sophomore Kevin Grove to break up the opposition’s attack and set up the counter attack.
A year ago he was the co-freshman Defensive Player of the Year in the TCAL.
Hall also likes what he’s seeing in the play of sophomore goalie Randy Moya and his brother, defensive freshman Andy Moya.
Senior outside defender Emmanuel Nava has also looked solid in the early going, as have center midfielder Humberto Pineda and junior captain Jose Velasquez.
“We’re going to surprise a lot of teams this year,” Hall said. “Our goal is to make the CCS playoffs and advance to the second round or further, and challenge Live Oak for first place in the TCAL.”
