GHS Boys Score Game’s Lone Goal
Gilroy – After the way Gilroy played in the first half against Palma, the halftime break called for a little “regañada.”
That’s the friendly, Spanish way of saying co-head coaches Armando Padilla and Brian Smith did a little reprimanding.
“The first half was very, very sloppy,” Padilla said, grimacing as he remembered. “We couldn’t get any possession.”
Going into the home league game Thursday night, the Mustangs showed the effects of having not played a game in nearly a month because of winter break.
But a much-improved second half, which was largely fueled by midfielder Jose Pineda, earned Gilroy the 1-0 Tri-County Athletic League win at home over the Chieftains (3-3-2, 0-2-1 TCAL).
Although Gilroy (5-4-2, 2-1 TCAL) controlled the ball for the vast majority of the second half, it was quite the opposite situation in the first half. A big problem was that the Mustangs weren’t sending good balls up to the forwards. To fix that problem, the coaches decided to give Pineda a chance at the attacking midfielder position, a spot he played earlier in the season before being moved to outside mid.
It turned out to be a just the adjustment the ‘Stangs needed.
“What a world of difference,” Padilla said. “The kid just took over the game. We had possession of the game, controlled the tempo of the game and he made some beautiful passes to our forwards.”
Added Gilroy co-head coach Brian Hall, “That’s probably the best overall individual performance of a player this year for Gilroy High boys soccer. He put it all together for us.”
With 20 minutes left to play, one of Pineda’s passes found junior Noel Vera about 20 yards out to the left of the goal. Vera fired a rocket of a shot which bounced off the chest of Palma’s goalie. But Gilroy junior Jose Velasquez was there to slide in and deflect the ball into the goal.
Pineda felt the Gilroy’s play picked up when the team started communicating better on the field, especially with the forwards.
“We weren’t doing it,” he said. “So me and the other mids stepped up and started giving (the ball) to (the forwards) and talking.”
Gilroy also took advantage of the fatigued Chieftains.
“We realized that the other team was down and they were tired,” Pineda said.
After the ‘Stangs finally scored, they were able to get several more quality scoring opportunities. Pineda himself had four shots. But none resulted in goals.
The win allowed Gilroy some revenge. Last year, the Mustangs tied the Chieftains 2-2, which ultimately cost Gilroy the TCAL title.
Up next: At North Salinas Tuesday, 5:30pm.
