SARATOGA – The Gilroy High varsity field hockey team set forth
on its first season in the Mount Hamilton Division of the Blossom
Valley Athletic League on Tuesday night and got exactly what it
expected
– and wanted.
*Goalie Jessica Gonzalez’s name was incorrect in Friday’s paper and has been edited below.
SARATOGA – The Gilroy High varsity field hockey team set forth on its first season in the Mount Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League on Tuesday night and got exactly what it expected – and wanted.
“All of a sudden we are playing the top teams,” head coach Adam Gemar said.
The Mustangs scored one goal in each half and held off a hard-charging Saratoga squad in the second half to grab a 2-1 victory.
“This is good, but I might die” Gemar said jokingly, visibly pleased with his team’s effort. “One more mistake (Saratoga) could have had it. Good solid team effort. They played awesome.”
With the Mustangs ahead 2-1 and time ticking toward five minutes to go in the game, senior goalie Jessica Gonzalez fended off three Falcons’ scoring chances on back-to-back possessions to stave off the late-game rush.
Gonzalez turned aside a shot with her right leg then batted away a rebound to clear the ball to thwart one pursuit. Less than a minute later Gonzalez left the cage to boot out a ball just as a Falcons’ forward closed in on the pass.
“Our keeper made some great saves,” Gemar said.
A relatively easy schedule of nonleague games, in which the Mustangs defense was rarely tested, Tuesday’s matchup gave the backline a proper introduction to things to come this season.
“We have talked about it before – every game is going to be like CCS,” defender Taylor Shaut said. “It’s super intense. I think (the defense) did really well. With the new league the ball in on us all the time. It’s totally different.”
The Mustangs controlled the flow of play for a majority of the first half, keeping the ball deep in Saratoga’s zone. However, a resilient Falcons defense made it difficult for the Mustangs to enter the circle, and when they did, traffic in front of the net complicated things further.
“(Saratoga) has always been super fast defensively,” Gemar said. “Inside the 25s its really hard to penetrate. We may have to change some things in the midfield. We have to be faster inside the 25.
GHS cracked the code with 11 minutes to go in the half. Senior Aubrey Young ripped a shot past Saratoga’s goaltender from short distance to put the Mustangs up 1-0.
“It looked like good skill all around and she just cleaned up the mess,” Gemar said.
University of Iowa-bound senior midfielder Dani Hemeon, who was hounded by double and triple teams throughout, put the Mustangs up 2-0 three minutes into the second half. GHS earned a short-corner and capitalized on the opportunity. Hemeon received the pass and one-timed a rocket into the cage.
Saratoga notched its goal six minutes later, converting a turnover into a short-corner attempt, which eventually led to a goal that ricocheted off a Mustangs defender before floating over Gomez’s head.
The Mustangs (6-0 overall, 1-0 league) continue MHAL play Thursday at Los Altos.
“I think the mindset thing is really important for us because we are so used to winning,” Shaut said. “This is going to be hard for us because every game is going to be tough. We may not always win, but these wins are exciting for us.”
