GILROY — Emma Leach has been playing field hockey at the Garcia-Elder Sports Complex for almost her entire career. On Wednesday, she had to say goodbye.
The senior captain scored one last time on her home field, helping Gilroy to a 5-0 victory over Live Oak. Leach was honored in a pregame ceremony along with classmates Lilybeth Mendoza and Stephanie Marques for Senior Night.
“It was a little bittersweet honestly, because it’s the last time I’ll play here and I’ve played here since I was a freshmen and even younger when I was in club,” Leach said. “I’m excited to move on to the collegiate level next year, but it was fun.”
Leach’s goal came in the 8th minute of the game to put the Mustangs up 3-0 at that point.
Katrina ‘KC’ Carter picked up a hat trick and more, scoring the remaining four goals in the 2nd, 4th, 39th and 40th minutes of the game.
On the other side of the field, the Mustangs defense shined. Gilroy fended off back-to-back corner attacks from the Acorns (3-12-2) in the first half which could’ve made the contest much closer. Goalie Jackie Jauregui stood on her head to earn the shutout.
“It’s always nice to play Live Oak — it’s not a hometown rivalry, but it’s kind of crosstown,” Gilroy coach Adam Gemar said. “We only had three seniors, but everybody played awesome today. I felt like they played hard for the seniors. … I think defense was a plus. We got five goals, but a lot of them came from turnovers.”
The Acorns, despite giving up five goals, deserve praise for their defense. Gilroy kept the pressure on for the full 60 minutes, continuously firing shots at goalie Alex Kingman.
“Our defense is really good,” LO coach Gina Sanders said. “They stay strong, they force the ball, they stay patient. They have really good block tackles and it’s great. They don’t play a lot of teams on the turf, they just have to adjust — they did a good job adjusting.”
Live Oak will be back at it at 3:30 p.m. Friday, playing the dangerous Archbishop Mitty in San Jose.
The Acorns have just three games left in the regular season and Sanders said she hopes to see her team gel a little more so it can end on a high note.
“We just need to kind of go to goal,” she said. “We just need to get shots, keep connecting. Today we weren’t really passing and it was just a little tough.”
Gilroy (10-2-2 overall, 7-2-2 in league) will play its final three games of the regular on the road, starting at 3:30 p.m. Friday at Prospect.
With the playoffs just around the corner, Gemar said he’s pleased with the way his team — especially the freshmen — have come together to pick up wins when it needs it most.
Every game is vital at this point in the season, so the Mustangs can’t let up now.
“We just need to keep up the intensity, go super hard at practice and bring it,” Leach said. “We need to bring it everyday so we can take it (league).”
