GHS boys kickers fall 3-2 on road to No. 5 Menlo-Atherton.
ATHERTON – Sophomore striker Everardo Diaz de Leon controlled the ball at about the 18-yard line, turned to his left, and unleashed a blast into the upper right-hand corner of the net. His goal trimmed the gap to one with 20 minutes left in the Gilroy High boys soccer squad’s first round playoff game against host Menlo-Atherton.
“Evy stepped up. He played great,” head coach Albert Marquez said. “When we got that second goal, there were 20 minutes left and I really thought we’d get it.”
But the game-tying goal would not find its way home, as the No. 12 Mustangs dropped a tight 3-2 decision to the No. 5 Bears on the turf at Menlo-Atherton High.
“I thought we gave them all they could handle,” Marquez said. “We had a couple of breakdowns on defense and they took advantage of them.”
Gilroy (12-5-4 overall) had its chances late in the second half – supplying constant pressure with its season on the line. Diaz de Leon nearly tied the game with a second straight strike – but his blast off a corner kick from senior teammate Horacio Arteaga bounced off the cross bar. The Mustangs generated several more scoring opportunities with crossing passes in front of the goal mouth – but touches and headers went wide or right at the Bears’ goaltender.
“We hit the crossbar a couple of times. We had our chances,” said Arteaga, the emotional captain following his last high school soccer game. “Communication, we needed to talk more.
“They were good. It’s all right. We gave them a battle,” he added. “We’re a team. We lose as a team.”
The Mustangs broke the scoreless tie 26 minutes into the first half when junior midfielder Jorge Plata scored on a penalty kick – which was the result of a hard foul on junior striker Javier Hernandez in the box.
“We have a young duo of Evy and Javi up front,” Marquez said. “They both played really well.”
Five minutes after Gilroy went ahead 1-0, Menlo-Atherton started to pick up its game – tying the score with a blast from the outside and then taking a 2-1 lead five minute later.
“That was the thing they needed to really get them fired up. Against Burlingame – our league champ – they scored in the first half and we came back with two in the second half,” said Bears’ head coach Juan Camahout of his players. “We haven’t lost here. It’s our castle.”
With Gilroy back on its heals heading into the break, Menlo Atherton came out in the second half and extended to a 3-1 advantage.
“We got down,” Marquez said. “There was a definite momentum swing.”
Knowing their season was weighing in the balance, the Mustangs finally turned on the heat that they started the game with – pressuring up front with a 3-4-3 formation and keeping the ball in the attack zone.
“We were trying to dig ourselves out of a hole. We had a shot that missed by a foot and one that hit the crossbar,” said Marquez, whose squad got one second-half strike but could not complete the comeback. “Anytime you’re in the playoffs you know you are going to face a top quality, high caliber team. They had a couple of great shots.”
Menlo-Atherton knocked Gilroy – which has lost in the first round two years in a row – out of contention and now advances to the Feb. 22 quarterfinals at Salinas High.
“I didn’t know anything about the Gilroy team. I knew if they made CCS, they had to be a good team,” Camahout said. “They’re a really good team. We really got some timely goals.”
