Four former GHS soccer players are playing together at De
Anza
Gilroy – Since Gavilan does not have a men’s soccer team, the pipeline from Gilroy runs more in the direction of Cupertino.
De Anza College, which recently completed a 10-6-7 season, had four GHS graduates on its team. Two — sophomores Arron Thomas and Javier Hernandez– played significant roles for the Dons, the second-place finishers behind Hartnell with a 7-1-4 record in the Coast Conference North. Freshmen Jose Pineda and Felipe Pineda will be counted on for bigger roles next year.
De Anza entered the California Community Colleges Soccer Championships as the No. 10 seed. The Dons upended No. 7 seed City College of San Francisco 1-0 before falling 2-0 to Fresno City College.
Hernandez and Smith were each named All-Conference first team.
“We had a really young team at De Anza,” said assistant coach Brian Hall, who doubles as soccer coach at Gilroy High. “Javy and Arron were two of only four or five sophomores starting on the team.”
The team started slow, much like Hernandez, the team’s leading scorer. In fact, Hernandez, a speedy forward, didn’t score until the seventh game. Nevertheless, he finished with eight goals and six assists.
“He really came on at the end of the season,” Hall said. “He’s a quick, crafty type of player who scored a lot of key goals for us.”
“I was a little out of shape at the beginning of the season,” Hernandez said. “It took longer than I expected to get back in shape.”
Once the Dons started employing a three-forward offense, Hernandez thrived.
“We started attacking more,” he said. “We were a really young team that took a while before we got to know each other, to mature to the level we should have been.”
The best game for Thomas, a sweeper, came in the contest that turned around the Dons’ season. Standing 0-2-2 after its first four games, De Anza faced a tough test at perennial powerhouse Santa Rosa College, which hadn’t lost on its homefield in 10 years, according to Hall. The Dons won 2-0.
“That game was the turning point of our season,” Hall said. “Arron was solid as a rock on defense. He’s the most unflashy, 90-minute player we had on the team. Confidence and professionalism radiate from him.”
“It was probably one of my best games,” Thomas said of the contest against Santa Rosa. “That game got me started. I knew it was a big game. When you go into big games, you have to step it up.”
Thomas is hoping to continue his soccer career next year at one of the California state universities.
Jose “Kaka” Pineda, who had two goals and two assists, is described by Hall as a “very skilled center midfielder. His role was coming off the bench to add a distributing touch and technical ability. We expect more from him next year.”
Felipe Pineda didn’t play at GHS but he was the second-string keeper at De Anza. Hall notes “you could see huge improvement in practice as the season progressed. He’s got excellent footwork, speed and quickness.”
With the success enjoyed by current players and the talent at Gilroy, Hall is hoping the soccer pipeline remains open.
