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.
With the game scoreless entering the second half, the Gilroy field hockey team knew it had to come out with a fire — and they did just that. The Mustangs scored three goals in the second half to top Presentation 3-1 at home Wednesday.  Katrina 'KC' Carter led the team with two goals while Emma Leach added one her own and an assist. Taylor Sillaci also had two assists in the game.  "The team is looking better," Mustangs coach Adam Gemar said. "We've set some reachable goals for our forwards, outside and inside mids and our def(ense) as well  — it seems to be that we're starting to reach those goals. The Mustangs will play at 5 p.m. Wednesday against Live Oak for their last home game of the season. The team will honor its seniors for with a pregame ceremony.  GIRLS VOLLEYBALL Cougars blanked by 'Balers Christopher was on a two-game winning streak, but San Benito quickly put an end to that. The Haybalers topped the Cougars 3-0 in straight sets at Christopher Tuesday. The loss drops CHS to 11-12 overall and 4-5 in league play. Stats from this game were not immediately available. The Cougars will play at 6:30 p.m. today at Salinas.  CROSS COUNTRY Gilroy boys finish first at Center Meet III The Gilroy boys varsity team blew away its competition, finishing 27 points ahead of the next best team at the Center Meet III at Pinto Lake Wednesday. The boys finished with a score of 38 ahead of runner up Palma who had 65. Christopher finished sixth with 132 points. The girls team took third with 64 points, just behind Christopher who had 62 points. Watsonville took first with 54 points.  The Mustangs featured four runners in the top 10, including Sean Kauffman who finished fourth in a time of 17:13.8. Kairo Barrose took sixth (17:25.4) with Jonathan Viveros right behind him in seventh (17:29.4). Jose Tony Barrados finished ninth in 17:52.3. Christopher's Hector Lopez finished 19th in 18:24.9. On the girls side Jamie Boutte was the first Gilroy-area runner to cross the finish line. The Christopher runner finished second in 20:07.6, right ahead of teammate Natalie Filippi who took third in 20:07.6. Vicky Fox took seventh for the Cougars in 21:07.1  Monica Ruelas was first across for the Mustangs, taking fifth in 20:43.3. Karla Lozano took 11th in 21:48.6 and Jackelyn Gomez Gonzalez was 12th (22:15.6). Bianca Johnson finished with a time of 23:04.1 that was good for 18th place. GIRLS TENNIS Mustangs fall to N. Salinas in last home match  The Gilroy girls tennis team won the most matches it has all season, but it was enough to lift it past North Salinas. The Mustangs lost 3-5 to the visitors Tuesday in their final home match of the season.  No. 4 Carissa Jackson won her match 7-5, 5-7, 10-8 for the lone Mustangs' singles win.  The No. 1 team of Nicole Holder and Caitlin Filice-Hollar won in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 while the No. 2 team of Mya Esquivel and Victoria Rodriguez won 6-3, 7-5.  Gilroy (0-9) is at the tale end of its schedule and will play its second to last game at 4 p.m. today at Monte Vista Christian.Â
The Gilroy field hockey team was excited up to kickoff the second half of its season, but things didn't go its way. The Mustangs were shutout 6-0 by Archbishop Mitty on the road Friday.  Coach Adam Gemar said he felt the blame should fall on himself, not his team.  "I feel, as the coach, I lost this game for the team," he said. "Every player tried their hardest tonight and every player has a huge heart,  but I haven't prepared them well enough. I haven't given them the proper tools to win games like this. I can't promise we will win time, because I can't, but I can promise we will be better prepared." The Mustangs (7-2-2 overall, 4-2-2 in league) will look to rebound against Leigh at 3:30 p.m. today.  Cougars blank York The Christopher girls field hockey team is on a roll. The Cougars have won their last four straight, most recently topping York 3-0 on the road Friday. Jordan Evanger scored two goals for Christopher, while Kristen Flores scored one. The Cougars are now 9-3 overall and 8-1 in league play. They will be back in action at 3:30 p.m. Friday at Carmel.  CROSS COUNTRY Mustangs' Ruelas leads girls to fourth place finish, boys 15th There' no stopping Gilroy's Monica Ruelas. Ruelas finished first in the girls varsity race at the Monterey Bay Invitational at Toro Park Saturday with a time of 21:09.  Karla Lozano was fifth in a time of 23 minutes. The team finished fourth overall out of 10 teams.  The boys were 15th out of 17 teams competing. Jacob Una Dia finished in 21st with a time of 19:11 for the Mustangs. Jesus Sanchez finished in a tie of 19:30, just seconds before teammate Jesus Ochoa who finished in 19:35. Gilroy will be back in action at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Center Meet III at Pinto Lake.  VOLLEYBALL Cougars shutdown North Salinas Christopher has won two straight after beating North Salinas 3-0 on the road Thursday.  The Cougars won 25-18, 25-16, 25-14 to get back to a . 500 record on the season (11-11 overall, 4-4 in league).  Oliva Tabron led the way with 14 kills, four blocks and two digs for CHS. Cheyanne Dela Merced had 31 assists, six digs and four kills.  Christopher will take on the Haybalers of San Benito at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at home.  BOYS WATER POLO Cougars drop close one to Harbor in OT Christopher and Harbor were evenly matched, but there had to be a winner. The Cougars lost 14-12 in OT to the visitors Thursday at home. The two teams scored three goals in each period to leave the game tied at 12-12 at the end of regulation. Harbor tacked on two more in OT for the win. Stats from this game were not immediately available. The Cougars will host Everett Alvarez at 5 p.m. Tuesday.      GIRLS GOLF Mustangs finish season strong The Gilroy girls golf team celebrated its last game of the season in unique fashion Wednesday.  Wednesday's match at Gavilan Golf Course was the final one for seniors LaTherian Harrision and Cierra Montoya-Valdez, and they went out in style.  The duo sported crowns for their Senior Day to celebrate their accomplishments over the past four seasons with the Mustangs. Montoya-Valdez, who is still limited to putting due to a case of appendicitis, carded a 75 while Harrision finished strong with a 55. Harrison had two one putt bogeys on two par3’s — Holes 6 and 8.  She put her tee shot in the green side bunker on Hole 8, a 92-yard Par 3. Harrison got out of the bunker in one shot and her first putt stopped short of going in for par, she tapped in for her second bogey of the day.  The girls also played Tuesday against Stevenson at Spyglass Hill Golf Course. Harrison carded a 65 in that match while Montoya-Valdez shot an 80.  Coach Daniel Valdez had one final message for his seniors:
Christopher’s Emily Hilkene was scoring goals as if it was business as usual Tuesday. The only thing is, it was the first time she’d played on offense since last season.
Gilroy High field hockey head coach Adam Gemar said recently that his team's defense would play a major role in how the rest of the Mustangs season plays out.