It was evident early in Gilroy’s non-league girls soccer game
against Live Oak on Friday that there wasn’t going to be a lot of
scoring.
Gilroy – It was evident early in Gilroy’s non-league girls soccer game against Live Oak on Friday that there wasn’t going to be a lot of scoring.
With few shots and even fewer legitimate scoring opportunities, both teams had to look at the situation as being whoever scored first would probably win.
The Mustangs took advantage of their best chance to find the net and earned a 1-0 win over the former Tri-County Athletic League rival Acorns.
“I had the feeling that if we scored one, we could score more,” Gilroy coach Jose Hernandez said. “We liked the way we were playing. We felt really comfortable with the way we were distributing the ball.”
The game was scoreless until the 56th minute when the Mustangs were awarded the game’s first corner kick. Senior midfielder Amanda Bruce fired the kick and it was headed by Ariana Carrillo.
Rahni Giardina had a good look at the goal but couldn’t put the ball on net and when Gilroy got the rebound and reset, Kristi Figueroa fed Bruce and she rocketed the ball into the net.
“We’ve been working on corners for the last two days so it was nice to see the actual corner work out the way it was,” Hernandez said.
With five minutes left in regular time, Live Oak had its best scoring chance but couldn’t get a foot on a centering pass and the Mustangs cleared the ball out.
A minute later, the Acorns were awarded their only corner kick of the game but couldn’t direct it toward the goal and Gilroy’s defense was able to prevent any other threats from being mounted.
“It seemed like they were really pushing people up (after we scored),” Bruce said. “I think our defense held them really good.”
There were a lot of highly physical battles between players on both teams and the Mustangs were able to fight through the tough play to get the win in the teams’ only meeting this year and their first meeting since Live Oak moved to the Blossom Valley Athletic League before this season.
“It’s always a physical game against Live Oak,” Bruce game. “It’s good for me in my senior year to get a win against them. Especially since we knew it was our only chance to play them.”
Acorns’ coach Tony Vasquez liked the way his young team fought and said he was expecting it to be a low-scoring defensive affair.
“It was an ugly game,” Vasquez said. “There weren’t too many scoring chances. It was whoever took advantage of their opportunities. Amanda (Bruce) is a good player on their team and they capitalized on their chance.”
