Despite controlling the time of possession, the Gilroy boys
soccer team was frustrated and taken out of their rhythm by rival
Live Oak on Thursday evening, falling to the Acorns 3-1.
By LeAnn Shea, Staff writer
Morgan Hill – Despite controlling the time of possession, the Gilroy boys soccer team was frustrated and taken out of their rhythm by rival Live Oak on Thursday evening, falling to the Acorns 3-1.
“I think we came out and played well in the first 20 minutes,” said Gilroy coach Brian Hall. “We have a young team and we lost our rhythm and got frustrated. There are a lot of things we have to work on.”
Early in the first half the ‘Stangs offense put pressure on the Acorns’ defense with crisp passing and good communication, but couldn’t create any open scoring opportunities.
Both teams played hard and physical in the match with the referee handing out four yellow cards in the first half. The ‘Stangs sophomore defender Kevin Grove, who was assigned to cover Live Oak’s star forward Garrett Frechette, came out of the game in the first half with a gash over his eye.
With Grove out of the game, Frechette scored for the Acorns on a break away to give Live Oak the 1-0 lead.
“Kevin was injured off the ball and I’m not really sure exactly how it happened, but as soon as he came out, they scored,” said Hall.
Just about nine minutes later, the Acorns struck again off an indirect kick from Anthony Avalos that ‘Stangs goalkeeper Randy Moya couldn’t gain control of and crept past the goal line.
“That was an early Christmas present,” said Hall. “From there we dug ourselves a hole we couldn’t get out of.”
Trailing 2-0, Gilroy’s offense came out in the second half determined to score, which appeared to take them out of their game plan. Live Oak’s offense capitalized on the ‘Stangs frustration, as Frechette drilled a pass from Avalos into an empty Gilroy net for a 3-0 lead.
“We knew it would be two good teams facing each other,” said Live Oak’s coach Tony Goble. “It’s always a war and great game between Live Oak and Gilroy.”
Freshman forward Jason Olivo scored the only goal for Gilroy in the waning minutes of the second half. Live Oak’s goalkeeper Sheldon Steenhuis came out to defend a shot and was taken down, leaving an open goal as Olivo followed up the shot and put it into the right corner of the net, 3-1.
“We need to play more consistently and with more composure,” said Hall. “Our forwards are not clicking in the big games. We expect guys to step up and make a difference. Our thought process on the field needs to improve and we have to eliminate the little mistakes.”
Gilroy continues play in the Homestead Cup this Saturday against Menlo Atherton.
