Motagalvan puts in game-winner in final minute; Arteaga stops
sure goal in 1-0 victory over Branham
GILROY – Time was ticking away in Tuesday’s home opener and the Gilroy High boys soccer team had little to show for its dominating effort – stuck in a scoreless tie with Branham.
But the Mustangs’ 23rd shot on net (compared to only five by the visitors) with 30 seconds left was the one that counted as junior midfielder Alfonso Motagalvan netted the game-winner for a 1-0 victory.
“(Coach Brian Hall) talked to us in the locker room and he just said keep it simple,” Motagalvan said. “I didn’t have my best game, but I made it when it counted. We’ve been practicing that a lot – dribble in, drop it back, two touch and shoot. That’s pretty much what I did.”
Junior outside wing Ben Alcantar started the scoring drive with a push down the right sideline before passing the ball over to teammate Juan Llamas – who rolled the ball back to Motagalvan. The team captain blasted a left-footed shot off the inside of the crossbar and down past the goal-line.
“That was awesome. I told them at halftime, ‘Win the ball; get it wide; play the ball to the top of the box; and drop it back,'” Hall said. “That’s exactly what happened – ball wide, striker at the top of the box, drop it back, left-footed right in the upper V. You can’t ask for a better shot.”
But perhaps the biggest play of the night game in Mustang Stadium came on the other end when sophomore stopper Artemio Arteaga kicked out the ball as it bounced towards an open net.
“You know what, Temo is the player of the game, not me,” said Motagalvan of his teammate. “I give it to Temo. He saved us a lot of times.”
On the opposition’s best scoring threat, Branham moved the ball in transition and a forward lofted the ball over the head of junior keeper Brian Velasquez (five saves). The ball was on its way in to give Branham the lead, but Arteaga got to the ball right before it went in.
“Of course, the anchor back there, Artemio, makes an incredible save,” Coach Armando Padilla said. “The guy, he’s like another Alfonso. He’s another guy who’s a leader in the back.”
The Mustangs controlled the ball from the onset, generating several scoring chances with some accurate passing. But they could not find the back of the net, allowing Branham to stay in a scoreless tie.
“It’s a game where we had 23 shots to their five and we dominated. But we let them in the game because our inability to finish,” Hall said. “Five minutes into the game we could have put it away. We had two chances in the first 10 minutes to finish. We didn’t do that. Then the momentum changes a little bit. We kept them in the game instead of doing our jobs, setting the tempo.”
Gilroy’s first serious threat came off a corner kick as senior striker Javier Hernandez passed short to senior teammate Jorge Plata – who gave it right back to Hernandez. The reigning league MVP rocketed a shot off the post that ricocheted to Llamas – who shot it wide.
“The easy ones we don’t get and then we get a miracle goal,” Hall said. “We have a great team but the big guys that we need to perform right now their not really coming through for us. So when everyone gets on the same page and all cylinders are working together we’re going to really be a force to be reckon with.
“The nice thing is we haven’t lost a game yet in five games, three wins and two ties, and yet our big guns have not yet reached their potential.”
In the first half, junior striker Everardo Diaz de Leon whistled a left-footed shot to the near post off a feed from Hernandez – but the ball sailed right into the gut of the Branham keeper. Before the break, Alcantar sent a nice through ball to Hernandez in the attack zone. Hernandez – who flashed his quick feet throughout to get several good shots off – beat the keeper and had a teammate waiting for the ball. But he whiffed and the ball went out of bounds.
“We kept constant pressure on them and we never slowed down and I think that’s a testament to our 23 shots versus five,” Hall said.
In the second half, the Mustangs could not finish off scoring chance after scoring chance. Hernandez fed Plata, who slipped in the box on his way to the net. Shortly after, Diaz de Leon found Hernandez, who juked a defender and sent a swirling shot wide. Then, Motagalvan sent a ball to Llamas, who got in too tight and was rejected by the goalie. Gilroy also was not given an apparent penalty-shot foul when Plata was taken down in the box after receiving a pass from Llamas.
After nearly allowing Branham to steal the lead, Motagalvan scored with 30 seconds left to put an end to Gilroy’s offensive frustrations.
“When Evy went in again (late in the second half), I told him, ‘Evy, we’re not losing this game,'” Motagalvan said. “So as a leader, I had to do something. I made it in, but it could have been another guy. We had a lot of opportunities and we just couldn’t put it in until the last second.”
The Mustangs’ tough non-league schedule continues with Thursday’s 3:30 p.m. home game against Fremont and then the second round of the Homestead Christmas Cup on Saturday.
