Trailing 1-0 at halftime of Friday’s game against host Gilroy,
the San Benito varsity girls soccer team was in fine position to
knot things up in the second half. The team had had its fair share
of possession and held strong on defense until allowing a goal by
Kristi Figueroa in the 30th minute.
Trailing 1-0 at halftime of Friday’s game against host Gilroy, the San Benito varsity girls soccer team was in fine position to knot things up in the second half. The team had had its fair share of possession and held strong on defense until allowing a goal by Kristi Figueroa in the 30th minute.
But three goals in the first 11 minutes of the second frame quickly put the contest out of reach as Gilroy went on to win 4-0 at Garcia-Elder Sports Complex.
Figueroa and Indra Garcia each had a pair of goals, with Garcia scoring the final two of the contest, three minutes apart.
“We started off a little too fast, emotions getting the best of us,” GHS coach Jose Hernandez said after the game. “In the second half, we settled down. The anchor for us as been the defense. They set the tone.”
Following a chip shot for a score in the first half, Figueroa gave Gilroy a two-goal advantage in the third minute by placing a 20-yard free-kick into the top right corner of the net, just beyond the fingertips of Lady ‘Balers keeper Emily Key.
Garcia followed up with two well-placed strikes of her own, scoring both of her goals by shielding the ball from defenders with her body while standing in the middle of the box.
“I was just using my skills with the ball, being confident, ” Garcia said. “We’re still working on our passing, but we’re doing really well.”
Things started to get chippy once the game had slipped from San Benito’s grasp.
In the 18th minute of the second half, Key was given a red card and sent off the field for dissent after the referee had warned her following a collision with Gilroy’s Sara Hugo.
The Lady ‘Balers were forced to play a man down for the rest of the game, but by then the match was already decided.
San Benito coach Mike Shurig said he was confident his team would rebound, and proud of the way players competed to finish the contest.
“We’re still confident we’re going to win league,” he said. “The positive is they didn’t score again when we went down to 10 players.”
The Lady Balers are now 5-3 on the season, 1-1 in Tri-County Athletic League play. Gilroy improved to 3-2-2, the first time the team has had a winning record since beating Seaside in the season opener. The Mustangs are 2-0 in the TCAL.
