Gilroy High field hockey found itself on the wrong side of the
ledger Thursday, losing its first game of the season to visiting
St. Francis, 2-0.
GILROY – Gilroy High field hockey found itself on the wrong side of the ledger Thursday, losing its first game of the season to visiting St. Francis, 2-0.
Very few things seemed to go in the Mustangs’ favor, despite having an equal number of shots on goal, 4, as the Lancers.
“We just didn’t click tonight,” Gilroy coach Adam Gemar said. “I don’t know what it was.”
Gemar did say his club came out a step slow, losing most of the 50-50 balls in open space.
St. Francis scored a goal in each half, the first on a shot that was redirected off a Gilroy defender’s stick, the second on a shot in traffic by Kelly Knauf.
“Those are always hard to defend because there’s so many feet and sticks,” Gemar said of the clincher, which came with 12:51 remaining.
Lancers coach Kathy Lincoln said she was proud of her team’s effort against a Gilroy squad that was 20-0-2 coming into the match.
“We know Gilroy is a good team and it’s a good barometer for us of where we’re at,” Lincoln said. She added that a loss isn’t always the worst thing in the world.
Gemar agreed, saying the Tri-County Athletic League doesn’t provide the consistent challenge a team like St. Francis receives playing in the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
“We were feeling a downhill slope for a while,” he said. “You never want to lose, but it is good for us to refocus.”
The Mustangs will play their final game of the season at home on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. against North Salinas.
Correction: It was incorrectly reported in an earlier version of this article that St. Francis is part of the West Catholic Athletic League, which does not exist for field hockey.
