GILROY
– The Gilroy High boys soccer team opened a new chapter in its
storybook season Wednesday, completely shutting down No. 14
Woodside for a 2-0 first-round victory in the Central Coast Section
playoffs.
GILROY – The Gilroy High boys soccer team opened a new chapter in its storybook season Wednesday, completely shutting down No. 14 Woodside for a 2-0 first-round victory in the Central Coast Section playoffs.
“Our first-round demons are gone. The ‘Curse of the Bambino’ is off our shoulders,” said Coach Brian Hall, whose squad advanced to the quarterfinal round after suffering first-round losses the past two years. “I think (playing at home) helped a lot because it let us stay here and get focused before the game and not have to jump on a bus.”
The No. 3 Mustangs (19-0-5 overall) will now hit the road for Saturday’s playoff game at Santa Clara High School at 10 a.m. Gilroy will play No. 6 Leland (16-3-6), which defeated Aptos 3-0 in its first-round game at Evergreen College.
After bouncing consecutive shots off the cross bar for their best scoring chance of the opening half, the Mustangs finally broke the scoreless tie when junior striker Joel Vera scored a rebound goal off a hard close-range shot by senior midfielder Jorge Plata that the Woodside goalie could not save cleanly.
Vera’s goal boosted the Mustang spirits, and sparked another second-half strike by senior Javier Hernandez only minutes after the first. With Woodside pushing up everyone, even its goalie, to try for the equalizer, Hernandez used his speed to mount a counterattack. On the break, Hernandez dribbled right to the goal and took a shot that found the back of the net.
A much taller, physical Woodside squad continually were called for fouls in the second half, bodying a number of smaller Mustangs to the ground.
It was a contrast in styles between the finesse game of the Tri-County Athletic League Champions of Gilroy and the physical play of the Peninsula Athletic League Champions of Woodside (14-3-2).
The first-round victory sets up a rematch between Gilroy and Leland, who met in the Homestead Christmas Cup Semifinals. That thrilling game ended in a 2-2 tie before going to penalty kicks, that ended on the seventh kicker with sophomore Jamie Binowski netting the clincher.
