Gilroy defeats visiting Seaside 4-0
Gilroy – With only 13 girls available because of injury, illness or incomplete paperwork, the numbers Wednesday weren’t with Gilroy.
But Amanda Bruce was with the Mustangs. So was Stephanie Glenn, and the two seniors combined for all the goals in a 4-0 win over Seaside at Garcia-Elder Complex.
That Glenn was even in the game was nothing short of remarkable. The senior forward, already nursing a broken hand, was hit by a vehicle earlier in the day in the GHS parking lot. She insisted to coach Jose Hernandez that she could play.
“I’m all right,” Glenn said. “I thought we played well. We connected better and had better passes. We were stronger in the middle. Sara (Hugo) came out of the goal and did real well in the middle.”
Actually, Hernandez had sufficient interchangeable parts to choose from as he tried to mix and match with what he had. He got Bianca Catanzano from the junior varsity to fill in at goal for Hugo.
It took Gilroy (1-1) 15 minutes to get untracked offensively. But once the first goal came, the next two followed within a six-minute span.
“We’re all right after we get the first one,” Hernandez said. “Our runs were very good. Now it’s working on (scoring off our) runs, and working on our overlaps.”
Bruce scored the first goal, connecting with a crossing shot from 15 yards that found the left-hand side of the net.
She was assisted by sophomore Ariane Vera.
The senior center midfielder, a dominant offensive player, also got the second goal. Using her deft ballhandling skills, Bruce set herself up for a left-footed 10-yarder.
Then it was Glenn’s turn offensively. She took a pass from freshman Rahni Giardina and scored from in close to make it 3-0, which was the score at halftime. Margaret Burton, Bruce and Glenn all had strong shots on goal during the half that either hit the post or were handled by Seaside (0-4) goaltender Christina Lewis, who had at least a dozen saves.
Glenn scored her second goal midway through the second half on an assist from Nubia Diaz de Leon. The score could have been much worse except for several acrobatic second-half saves by Lewis.
“It’s a good start but we’ll need to be better Friday (against Presentation),” Glenn said. “We’ll have to get our heads in the game more.”
