The Leland girls soccer team opened BVAL-Mount Hamilton Division play with a 3-2 win at Live Oak Wednesday afternoon.
“Every year Leland has been a tough team to play. We’re in a really good division, so I expected a tough game,” said Live Oak defense Sydney Barker. “I didn’t expect to lose, I was kind of disappointed about that, but not everyone is going to win.”
Leland started strong in the first few minutes. In the 7th minute, Maddy Newton assisted Alyssa Johnson for a goal. The Acorns answered in the 19th minute as Macey Dunn assisted Alissa Pham for a header goal to make it 1-1. However, the Chargers finished the first half with yet another goal when Celeste Kaashoek assisted Newton to give Leland a 2-1 lead at halftime.
“We expected a challenging game. We knew that they were a very aggressive team, so we tried to pass around the best that we could. My teammates were able to set me up really well so that I was able to get it in,” said Newton, who plays outside mid for Leland. “But, we all worked together really well and I am glad I could help.” Newton assisted two of the three goals and scored the other herself.
“Every game is a challenging game for us. We don’t play anybody less than anybody else,” said Charger Coach Ary Afsari. “Every opponent that we come to is another game with no record of what happened the last time. Our team plays as a total unit.”
The Acorns conjured another goal in the 60th minute to tie the game back up when Shannon Rauschnot scored, but Leland didn't take long to respond. The Chargers responded in the 64th minute when Newton assisted Lauren Craft for the final goal of the day.
“The 3rd goal was the most important,” said Afsari.
“We had a lot of injuries in preseason and I was worried about our fitness level. I think what let us down town was our fitness level. Having five girls injured in the preseason means they don’t have their legs yet,” said Acorn Coach Tony Vasquez. “It really showed in this game with the heavy grass. We just need to get fit and we’ll be OK.”
Live Oak visits Santa Teresa on Friday.
“We’re definitely going to work on more things in practice," Barker said. "I think one of our weaknesses is talking because communication really helps on the field. But other than that, we’ll be working on different drills.”
