LIVE OAK, CA (MPG) – The Live Oak High School girl’s varsity soccer team ended the regular season with a share of the Sac Valley League championship and continued their stellar play into the playoffs.

The Lions (16-4-1, 7-1 Sac Valley) began postseason play in the Division II NSCIF Girls Winter Soccer Playoffs against Sutter, in a match that ended in a 2-2 draw. Live Oak then moved on to the Division V CIF NorCal Girls Soccer Championships and were beaten 2-1 in extra time by Leadership High School out of Hayward.

Live Oak head coach Jose Acosta said that even though this year’s team was young, comprised mostly of freshmen and sophomores, the talent was there, and the ladies played with heart, never allowing themselves to give up the drive to score.

Acosta had several standout players this season. First is freshman striker Johanna Petron, who scored a total of 54 goals. Next is sophomore Mckayla Holmen, who covered a lot of turf and had high scoring numbers herself en route to being named team MVP. On defense, Acosta said sophomore sweeper Maya Goodson succeeded at deterring opposing offensive attacks at their goal.

Most of the Lions' victories this season came in dominant fashion, as 12 out of 16 of the wins came in shutouts. In 21 games this season, Live Oak outscored their opponents nearly by 100, at 119-20.

According to Costa, early in the season the Lions made it a goal of theirs to win the league title and they were more than excited when they accomplished the mission. Costa and assistant coach Rudy Rosales will return next year for the 2022-2023 season and are both excited at the prospects of the team being full of young talent.

After witnessing what his team did this year, Costa believes they will have another shot at a league championship next season.