Tack another shutout to the win column. Gilroy’s girls’ varsity
field hockey team defeated the North Salinas Vikings 2-0 Wednesday,
improving its record to 6-1-2 on the season and 6-0 in TCAL
play.
Tack another shutout to the win column.
Gilroy’s girls’ varsity field hockey team defeated the North Salinas Vikings 2-0 Wednesday, improving its record to 6-1-2 on the season and 6-0 in TCAL play.
Both teams entered the second half scoreless, but goals by Dani Hemeon and Elise Ogle helped GHS put the game away.
The Mustangs have now outscored league opponents 35-0 in six games, with only one shot attempt coming a Gilroy goalkeeper’s way. Wednesday’s game, however, provided a new challenge for the team, who had to be patient and precise against a tightly packed Viking defense.
“It was a good challenge for us – the intensity,” coach Erin Gemar said. “North Salinas played with their whole team back. You have to get through 11 girls, sometimes all of them playing (in front of the goal).
“But it was a good game. We needed this.”
Early in the second half, Hemeon scored the first goal of the contest on a tip-in. A free-hit by Ogle from the top of the circle, which had to be touched by another player for a goal, deflected off Hemeon’s stick to get past the keeper.
Ogle’s goal came on a penalty stroke because a Viking player touched a ball that had already passed North Salinas’ keeper. She easily dispatched the ball into the top left corner of the net to push the lead to 2-0. Ogle received the ceremonial “Stick of the Game” from her teammates.
“Elise Ogle played great almost the entire game,” Gemar said.
Both scorers thought North Salinas provided the toughest test GHS has received so far from the TCAL.
“I think they were way more aggressive,” Hemeon said. “They came out strong and kept it 0-0 in the first half.”
Ogle added that the team responded well despite scoring less goals than usual.
“It shows how our team can play under pressure,” she said. “So, when the second half came, we knew we had to pick it up,”
Coach Gemar was happy with the effort but saw one aspect of the game that GHS still needs to improve.
“One thing we need to fine tune is our short corners,” she said. “We had almost 30 short corners and only got one goal … If we could have capitalized on a few more of those short corners, we would have had no complaints.”
JV Note: North Salinas was able to beat the Gilroy junior varsity team 1-0 Wednesday. Playing before the varsity contest, the team experienced a bit of controversy.
A referee made a comment to Mustang players on defense, and as the girls turned, the Vikings scored the lone goal of the game. With only 10 minutes off the clock, the Mustangs still had plenty of time and chances to tie the game, but according to coach Allison Hodgdon, the ball just didn’t bounce Gilroy’s way.
“We had tons of scoring opportunities,” she said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t hit net.”
