Thursday’s game between the two crosstown rivalry teams, Christopher and Gilroy High, ended in yet another victory for Christopher.
“I couldn’t be prouder of my boys,” said Ricardo Espinosa. “They dominated and persevered out there on the field.”
Trevor Robledo put the go-ahead shot in for a 1-0 win over Gilroy to give Christopher the sweep of the home-and-away series.
The Cougars improve to 6-1 in Gabilan Division play. Gilroy falls to 0-4-1 in league play.
Christopher started out strong with their first goal attempt made by Giovanni Adame in the first two minutes of the game.
However, the goal was stolen by Gilroy’s Richard Guevara who ended up tumbling down the Cougar’s goal line in an unsuccessful goal attempt. The ball was then obtained by Christopher’s Brandon Kim who raced down the field to fiercely kill the ball towards Gilroy’s goal, but it was stopped by Jaime Ulloa.
CHS had a close call at 15 minutes when Ellis Diaz made a goal attempt for GHS that almost resulted in a goal when Christopher’s Carlos Arroyo stumbled in an effort to block the ball but recovered in order to protect the Cougar goal.
Christopher’s Erik Velasquez swiftly swept the ball under Richard Guevara to steal the ball for the Cougars.
Velasquez then assisted the ball to Adame who sprinted ball the field to be met by Guevara. Adame and Guevara both slid across the field in a battle for the ball, and Adame frantically kicked the ball as he approached the Mustang goal and knocked Guevara down in the process.
The second half of the game started with no points on the board for both the Cougars and the Mustangs. CHS was determined to change that as Brandon Kim assisted the ball to Adame, who wildy kicked the ball toward the Mustang goal, but was blocked by Ulloa. Christopher’s Isaiah Rugerio and Johnny Rojas and Gilroy’s Tony Barradas and Ellias Diaz all battled back and forth aggressively for the ball at the 20-yard line at 20 minutes of the second half, but the battle did not end in a point for either team.
Christopher’s Robledo then gained the ball and shot it past Rojas and towards the goal but it was stopped by Ulloa.
Robledo showed he wasn’t going down without a fight as he regained the ball at 35 minutes and as he approached the goal once again both team scrambled for the ball. As Robledo powerfully kicked the ball toward the goal, Gilroy’s goalie, Jaime Ulloa, stumbled to the ground and the ball and Robledo both ended up in the Mustang goal. In the last five minutes of the game, Gilroy made countless attempts for goals, however it was Christopher that resulted in reigning victorious.
“It was a well fought game,” said GHS coach Armando Padilla. “There was good judgment calls made in the second half. My boys didn’t have many opportunities to make goals, but they took every available one.”
Once again CHS won a game by one goal, this time made by Robledo.
“It felt great to get the game winning goal, it was a good team effort,” Robledo said. “When I saw how crazy the crowd was and how happy my team was, it felt like I was dreaming. The game meant a lot to the team, especially our seniors. Now we have our eyes set on winning the league title.”
