GILROY—Gilroy and Live Oak may be enemies on the field, but they’re definitely friends off of it.
Immediately following Thursday’s game, players from both squads joined together for a group picture. Smiles were plastered on the faces of players and coaches from both teams and all the chippiness was washed away at the sound of the final whistle.
“I always like playing Gilroy because I coach club and a lot of those girls are on my team,” Live Oak coach Tony Vasquez said. “It’s always a good battle. I know it’s a little down year for them, but it’s always fun to play against them.”
The off the field friendships didn’t diminish the intensity of the game, however. Live Oak dominated from the start, picking up a 4-2 win over the Mustangs to remain undefeated in this early season.
The Acorns took a 2-0 lead into halftime, thanks to goals from Bella Apolinar and Holly Hopwood in the 6th and 28th minutes, respectively.
The Mustangs were down, but not out and took control offensively to start the second half. Agust Gomez, Chesley Robles and Alexi Slattery all took their best shots at first-year keeper Tiffany Moore, only to turned away. Moore, a senior and rookie soccer player, came up with five big saves in the game.
“We did really good. I’ve been taught a lot about the game, but this is my first season playing ever. I don’t know the particulars, I just do what they tell me and that’s not to let the ball go in the goal,” the water polo goalie and softball catcher said.
The Mustangs’ tenacity finally paid off when Robles found Slattery on a cross in front of the net in the 60th minute. Slattery tapped it in and the ball seemed to stop shy of a goal, but rolled into the back of the net before Moore could get a glove on it to cut the Acorns’ lead to 2-1.
The duo connected again just a minute later, this time Slattery to Robles, but Moore was there for the save and covered it up to squash any chance of a rebound.
“That team is good, they’re undefeated and I think that’s probably the first goal they’ve given up all year,” Mustangs coach John Slattery said. “I’m really proud of the way Lexi (Slattery), Kayla (Gonzalez) and Chelsey (Robles) all had opportunities to score and even it tie it up. We’re finally getting a little bit of cohesiveness and we’re working as a unit better on the defense and talking more.”
The Acorns swung the moment back in their favor in the 64th minute when Emmy Goble fired a shot off a corner that Gilroy goalie Brittany Bishop just couldn’t get a glove on.
Bishop normally plays for the Mustangs’ JV squad, but was filling in for the injured Victoria Rodriguez. Though she allowed four goals, Bishop saved eight in her varsity debut.
“It’s fun, but it’s difficult which is good,” Bishop said of playing on varsity. “It was fun, but it was kind of hard for me to get the high ones.”
The Acorns kept the pressure on for the final 15 minutes, forcing Bishop to make big sliding saves. Gilroy finally regained control late and capitalized on it. Iris Aparicio found Kayla Gonzalez in front of the net and Gonzalez poked it in to the near side for her first goal of the year to cut Live Oak’s lead to 3-2 with under two minutes to play.
“I wasn’t supposed to go back in, but I’m glad that I did because I contributed to us playing better,” Gonzalez said. “I was scared that it was going to go over, but I was just like ‘I’m going to hit it on the ground’ and it went in. I was happy.”
But Live Oak wasn’t done yet.
Brisa Lugo, a freshman midfielder, knocked in the Acorns’ final goal just before time expired off a corner shot to the far side of the net.
“It was a good game. We fought hard and I think we did good,” Lugo said. “I was hoping it was going to go in. I just went in there and hoped for the best.”
Live Oak had several scoring opportunities in the first, but were met by Gilroy’s tough defense. Tayler Silacci, Angela Leonardo and Jessica Koppel all came up with big stops to aid their rookie goalie in net.
Live Oak (5-0) will break for the holidays before returning to action at 3:15 p.m. Jan. 7 to host Leland in the league opener. The Acorns will use their lengthy break to work on finishing their shots.
“I think scoring goals, we create enough opportunities, but now we need to be able to put those balls in the back of the net,” Vasquez said.
Gilroy will also be off for the holidays and will host Aptos at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 5 in its last contest before league play begins at 5:45 p.m. Jan. 7 at San Benito.
“The preseason is not there to get a record, it’s there to build and be ready for the league, which I think we’re really close,” Slattery said. “I’m looking forward to it. Like I told you in the beginning of the season, we will challenge for a league title.”
