It wasn’t quite as impressive. It took a little longer to develop.
But in the end, it was still a win over rival Hollister.
Two weeks ago, the Gilroy boys’ soccer team beat the Haybalers in Hollister, 7-0. On Saturday at GHS, the Mustangs won, 3-0.
“The guys played fairly well,” co-head coach Armando Padilla said. “There were some mental mistakes at the end, but we were able to control the game for the most part.”
The players, though, didn’t seem thrilled with their performance against the struggling ‘Balers (3-11/1-8).
It was their second straight so-so performance in a Saturday afternoon game – a week after the team’s surprising 1-1 tie with Palma.
Senior midfielder Alfonso Motagalvan said the atmosphere in the locker room before the noon match was “sleepy and quiet.”
“Must be something wrong with Saturdays,” added fellow captain Artemio Arteaga said. “I don’t know if people don’t feel like playing or what, but the last few have not been great. Saturday’s just not our day.”
High expecations aside, the Mustangs did pretty well dominate on this occasion. In its first game since Thursday’s huge win at Live Oak, GHS outshot the Haybalers, 19-2.
In the game’s 14th minute, Gilroy’s Juan Llamas scored the only first-half goal for either team. Ben Alcantar juked a pair of Hollister defenders and found Llamas by the post, where the senior forward kicked it in off the side of his foot.
It was Alcantar’s 15th assist, which is the most of anyone in the southern part of the Central Coast Section: TCAL, MTAL, MBL and SCCAL.
“He’s a very, very good passer,” Llamas said of the junior mid.
In the second half, the Mustangs scored both of their goals in a matter of three minutes.
In the 58th minute, freshman Kevin Grove knocked in a relatively easy goal right in front of the net after the ball was mishandled by the Hollister keeper. Motagalvan was credited with the assist.
Shortly thereafter, Motagalvan picked up another, as fellow senior Everardo Diaz De Leon headed in his team-leading 15th goal of the season.
With the win, Gilroy improved to 13-2-3 (6-1-2 TCAL). Having alread clinched a spot in CCS, the Mustangas will close out the regular season with today’s 5pm match at Salinas High.
