The Bullard-Fresno girls soccer team handed Live Oak its first loss of the season, 2-0, Saturday afternoon in Morgan Hill. With the win, the Knights improved to 8-1-1 on the season.
“It’s always a good win whenever we could come out of town to these Bay Area competitions. They’re always pretty tough,” said Bullard coach Onesta Francis. “We’d heard a lot of good things about Live Oak. It took a lot of fight and a lot of teamwork.”
Morgan Darling scored both goals for Bullard, which led 1-0 at the half. But the Knights weren't convinced that lead was safe.
“Nothing was guaranteed. Live Oak has some dangerous players," Francis said. "Number 5 (Alissa Pham) was electric; very fast and very strong. We were concerned with that and also with the wet weather.”
The Knights sealed the win with a late goal to go up 2-0.
“We’re showing we can get the win in any situation. Our chemistry was working well," Darling said. "It was good pressure by my teammate that forced a bad pass and let me get the credit."
The Acorns were disappointed with the loss, but they were excited about the upcoming season. They had come out of an impressive 9-0 victory earlier that week, and were still riding the high.
“I feel our team was given a bigger challenge this game which really forced us to work together. We had to communicate more in order to get plays to work,” said Sydney Barker. “Weather is always a factor that changes the game but I feel my team played very well despite the rain. Being our first loss, it is hard but coming from this game I feel my team will take a lot from it and next time we play a difficult team we will be more prepared and able to come out with a win.”
