Nubia Diaz de Leon scores a pair of goals to give Gilroy 2-2
tie
Gilroy – The Gilroy girls’ soccer team shook out of its lethargy in the nick of time Thursday and used the powerful right foot of Nubia Diaz de Leon to gain a 2-2 tie with host Salinas.
Diaz de Leon scored both Mustang goals on direct kicks, the second erasing a one-goal deficit that allowed Gilroy to gain the tie. The Mustangs were on the attack after the second goal but were unable to get the game-winner.
“We were out of it in the first half,” GHS coach Jose Hernandez said of his team, which trailed 2-1 at intermission. “That’s what the halftime speech was about. I reminded them that actions speak louder than words. The second half, we did that.”
Diaz de Leon was one of the girls who took the message to heart.
“We all thought about what coach was saying,” she said. “We weren’t playing to our level. We knew we could be better. We started passing to the feet instead of higher in the air. That helped us a lot.”
Of scoring her second and third goals of the season, Diaz de Leon said, “It felt really good because I’m a defender. It helped get all my teammates happy. We wanted to win and could have because we had opportunities. But at least we didn’t lose.”
The outcome left the teams tied for third in TCAL at 2-1-2 behind San Benito (3-1-1), which beat Alisal 5-1. GHS is 5-5-3 overall. Salinas, which had a four-game win streak snapped, is 7-6-2.
