MORGAN HILL -- The Live Oak boy's soccer team was five minutes away from notching their first win in almost a year -- 355 days to be exact -- Tuesday against Menlo.
The Acorns had it in their grasp after Dylan Frechette blasted a rebound shot past goalkeeper Khaled Bitar in the 72nd minute.
"That goal made us feel better because we were up," said Frechette, whose goal followed an Adolfo Canela shot that Bitar deflected. "We just had to hold it for a little while."
Victory slipped away three minutes later. From the sideline, Menlo team captain Michael Walker threw the ball into a crowd surrounding Live Oak's goal, and forward Sanjay Padval toe-putted the ball through the legs of goalie Eric Saavedra.
Foiled but not frustrated, the Acorns opened the 2008-09 season at Live Oak High School in the same way they finished their last; with a 1-1 cliffhanger.
"For the first game, not bad," Acorns coach Tony Goble said frankly. "To start the season with a tie -- it's a good start for us, and we'll take it."
The draw placed both teams on fair ground for the start of group play in the Homestead Cup. The Acorns and Knights are part of a foursome with Aptos and Homestead. The top two teams from each group advance to tournament play.
Live Oak dropped its first two games last year on the way to finishing 2-13-3 (0-10-3 in Blossom Valley Athletic League play).
"I'm impressed with our improvement," said Live Oak sophomore Alejandro Diaz, one of several young players that anchored the team as freshmen last season. "We still need to work on our communication and touch. We felt like we could have beaten them."
Early on, the Acorns appeared destined for its first win since Dec. 12, 2007. They outshot Menlo 8-5 in the first half and came close to scoring on two sharply placed crosses by Diaz. Both went to sophomore Jesse Hernandez, who headed the ball just wide of the goal mouth. Diaz and Hernandez later took back-to-back shots that Bitar barely gloved.
Bitar finished with six saves.
"The first half, we took it to them," Goble said. "We rotated five or six different guys into the game to see what they could do. Some of the guys that came off the bench proved us wrong. They're now starters, and some of the starters are subs.
"I think that's a good thing. We have a lot of depth and a lot of guys that want to play. There's competition on this team."
The Knights -- of the West Bay Athletic League -- seized momentum at the start of the second half. They cracked Live Oak's defense in the first 10 minutes, taking five consecutive shots on goal. Menlo had a 13-5 edge in shots during the period, including four of Padval's game-high six shots.
Saavedra collected all four of his saves in the final 40 minutes.
"That was a game we should have won," Knights coach Giles Scott said. "We played better than them in the second half. It was all conditioning and us moving the ball well.
"We have great senior leadership on this team. They weren't going to let us lose."
The Acorns' passing picked up after the 70th minute, and Diaz relayed a long pass to Canela in the corner. Canela, who totaled a team-high five shots, cut back against the grain and launched the ball in from 15 yards out. Frechette, meanwhile, was looming inside the penalty box.
"It got deflected out, and I cleaned it up," Frechette said. "We were just unlucky after that."
Menlo (0-0-1) moved the ball with authority and finally broke through with Sanjay's goal in the 35th minute.
"Sanjay's a junior and playing up top for the first time this season," Scott said. "He's doing great so far."
Live Oak forced a corner kick in the final five minutes, but neither side mustered a shot. The Acorns trotted off the field afterward.
"So we'll take the tie," Goble repeated. "It was an unfortunate goal for us to give up, but our guys are chomping at the bit to get back out there.
"Basically, we have the same team from last year with three new starters. You take your lumps some years. And some years, you get back, and you get older and improve."
NOTE: Live Oak continues play in the Homestead Cup at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at home versus Aptos.
Scott J. Adams Scott J. Adams covers Morgan Hill sports for South Valley Newspapers. Send him an email or call him at 779-4106.
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