No Alfonso Motagalvan. No victory.
No Alfonso Motagalvan. No victory.
In fact, barely even a tie.
With its All-American captain 3,000 miles away in Florida, the Gilroy boys’ soccer team squeaked out a 1-1 draw with Palma Saturday at GHS.
The Chieftains came in with both a losing record overall (7-8) and in league (2-4). And just three days earlier, they had lost 7-3 in a makeup game to the Mustangs.
In this match, however, only a Gilroy goal in the final minutes prevented what would have been a shocking upset of the defending TCAL champs.
The absence of Motagalvan, the senior midfielder who spent the weekend with the Olympic Development Program in Orlando, was “no excuse,” GHS co-head coach Brian Hall said.
“They just outplayed us,” he said. “It was a pathetic performance … you can quote that one in the paper.”
To be fair, the ‘Stangs did outshoot the Chieftains, 9-1. It was that one Palma shot, though – a goal by Silvano Botta just before halftime – that put Gilroy in the unaccustomed catch-up role for much of the second half.
Earlier in the match, the Mustangs (11-2-2/4-1-1) had their share of chances. In the first 20 minutes, Palma never got the ball across midfield.
“But every time we’d attempt to get something going down by the goal, we’d give it up,” Hall said.
So faced with the prospect of losing to a Palma team it had outscored 24-4 in their last five meetings, Gilroy switched its lineup in the second half.
Despite playing three forwards for the final 25 minutes, however, the Mustangs only broke through in the closing moments.
With less than two minutes remaining, Jose Pineda converted an assist from Ben Alcantar and Gilroy escaped with a tie.
The draw did come with a price, though. Unless there’s a major upset elsewhere, Gilroy can no longer win the outright league title with a win over Live Oak (13-0-5/6-0-1) on Thursday.
The Mustangs, who first have a home game against North Salinas today at 3:30pm, likely will play for a share of the championship at this point.
The up-and-down play of Gilroy, which didn’t lose its first game last season until the CCS title game, continues to be a mystery to coaches and players alike.
“Honestly, I don’t know what it is,” Pineda said. “I guess we just have to practice harder and with more intensity.”
