San Jose
– With time running out in a rain-soaked, hard fought game
against Leland, the Gilroy boys’ soccer team caught one bad break
which cost them the game and ended their season.
San Jose – With time running out in a rain-soaked, hard fought game against Leland, the Gilroy boys’ soccer team caught one bad break which cost them the game and ended their season.
In the 36th minute of the second half, Chargers forward Peter Rodriguez had a free kick in front of the Mustang goal after getting tripped just outside the box. The shot, though off line, hit off a Gilroy defender’s foot and found the back of the net.
An own goal to dash the Mustangs’ hopes in the worst possible way? GHS co-head coach Brian Hall was non-committal, saying Rodriguez deserved credit for a great boot, though technically it was a deflection.
A last ditch all-out offensive effort by the ‘Stangs to send the game to penalty kicks died when the final whistle blew and the Chargers and their fans erupted in cheers.
Both sides played extremely tough and with plenty of emotion. Fouls nearly spelled the end for the Chargers, who drew three yellow cards, but Gilroy just couldn’t catch the one break they needed.
At the start of the game, the Mustangs came out fighting. They kept the ball on Leland end of the field and kept the pressure high. But several chances went for naught as shots went wide or right at the ‘keeper.
Leland turned the tide midway through the game, but Gilroy recovered and looked to have the momentum going into the second half of play.
Throughout that second half, the Mustangs didn’t play well and watched Leland come within a few feet of scoring on at least five serious chances that missed.
GHS co-head coach Armando Padilla said his team just didn’t play that hard in the second half.
“We talked about making adjustments and stepping it up,” Padilla said. “But I don’t think our guys tried that hard.”
The Mustangs were not without their opportunities, but Leland’s goalie was in exactly the right position to make the key stop and keep the Mustangs scoreless time and again.
“This was one of those games of ebbs and tides,” Hall said. “The game came down to which team made the fewest errors.”
As it turned out, the Mustangs made one error too many.
Following the Leland goal, Gilroy used what was left of their energy and fought on, and it nearly paid off.
As the game went into stoppage time, the Mustangs had a free kick of their own following a push to the back that nearly crossed the goal line. But the goalie was in the way and made a miraculous stop.
“If he drops that ball, we’re back in it,” Padilla said. “I have got to give it up to that goalie.”
Senior forward and leading scorer Everardo Diaz de Leon was not happy with his team’s performance in the second half.
“In the second half we just came out sleeping,” he said. “We are all disappointed. We all know we could have done better, we could have won.”
