Gilroy’s cohesiveness as a unit came through in its home opener
Wednesday as six different Mustangs registered goals en route to a
7-0 victory over Homestead.
Some of the bullet points on the Gilroy High field hockey team’s extensive list of objectives entering the season dealt with team chemistry leading to on-the-field execution.
That rhythm isn’t always developed in drills at practice. Case in point, a team trip to Mount Hermon last weekend.
“We did this ropes course, it was kind of like a team-bonding activity,” senior captain Kristina Chuck said. “We were close before, but now we have this support for each other. We are becoming a team and relying on each other.”
Gilroy’s cohesiveness as a unit came through in its home opener Wednesday as six different Mustangs registered goals en route to a 7-0 victory over Homestead.
“I think it was about teamwork,” said freshman Katrina Carter, who set up three of the seven tallies, one game removed from a hat trick against Branham. “We all had to have great vision and keep talking. That’s how we got the passes around. And we had some good stick handling.”
Senior Roya Lillie put the Mustangs up 1-0 four minutes into the 30-minute first half, depositing a shot from the top, right of the circle into the left-hand corner of the net.
Though a number of scoring chances were thwarted for the next 16 minutes, the Mustangs maintained a consistent offensive push.
Junior Monica Marrazzo made sense of a frenzied scramble in front of the net, finding the ball through a collection of feet and sticks, flicking it in for a 2-0 lead 10 minutes before halftime.
GHS went ahead 3-0 with 2:35 to play before the break, utilizing a nifty lead pass from Carter at midfield to Ezzie Gobea who dished to Kaylana Mah for the backhand score.
Gobea and Mah teamed up again with 56 seconds left, this time Gobea finished the sequence for a 4-0 advantage at intermission.
Chuck posted a pair of goals to lift the lead to 6-0 before freshman Tayler Silacci closed the scoring late in the half.
“We kind of died out at the end, a little boring, but it was a good game. I liked it. We had six different scorers, which is nice to see,” GHS head coach Adam Gemar said. “It was good to play against a ‘B’ division team and see where our strengths and weaknesses are and try to fill the gaps.”
The Mustangs earned 17 short-corner opportunities, capitalizing on two.
“I’d like to see us score a bit more on those,” Gemar said.
Gilroy travels to San Jose to take on Willow Glen at 3:30 p.m. Monday, and then hosts Live Oak for a scrimmage at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
