Mustangs shut out by Watsonville in CCS Finals, 3-0
SAN JOSE – The Mustang kickers have lived in the lead throughout their dominating playoff run into Friday night’s CCS Division I Championship against top seed Watsonville at PAL Stadium in San Jose.
But unlike previous victories over Leland in the quarterfinals and Gunn in the semifinals, where Gilroy had the comfort of three-goal cushions at halftime, the garlic bunch was forced to play from behind.
Wildcatz’ senior Juan Vasquez scored six minutes into the game to put the Mustangs behind by a goal for the first time in the post-season, and junior teammate Armando Martinez netted a pair of second-half goals to end Gilroy’s season-long unbeaten streak, 3-0.
“Usually, they come out so hard, pushing, attacking, attacking,” Watsonville head coach Roland Hedgpeth said. “We told them that they just come out hard the first few minutes. I said we’ve got to do it. We’ve got to play our game the first 15 minutes.”
Watsonville came out determined, and took advantage of some uncharacteristic errors by the Mustangs to claim the section title for the first time since 1996. Meanwhile, Gilroy, which last won CCS in 1991, started flat and never got into a groove, losing in regulation for the first time in 27 games.
“It wasn’t a good game. We didn’t play our style. We were taken out of our game, and I think we weren’t concentrating on what we were doing,” senior Jorge Plata said. “For me, honestly, we didn’t play our style. If we played like we played against Leland or Gunn, we could have beaten them.”
In front of a boisterous crowd of hundreds to pack the stadium stands, the Mustangs simply missed their opportunities and the Wildcatz capitalized on three of theirs.
“What killed us was our errors. We killed ourselves. Our errors killed us and I think we gave them the game,” sophomore Alfonso Motagalvan said. “We had a great run. We have great coaches, great players, but we didn’t execute. All of the big players, including myself, didn’t show up for this game.”
Gilroy, which scored 10 goals in three playoff games, including six in the first half, was blanked for the first time all season long. The deadly Mustang attack, led by senior Javier Hernandez and junior Everardo Diaz de Leon, could not find the back of the net.
“None of our big guys, they didn’t played well. Not a single one of them. Just a lot of errors,” Coach Brian Hall said. “Today, we were just outclassed. We pride ourselves on our speed, but we’ve got, of our starting 11, five guys with a lot of speed. They’ve got 11 guys. … Those three or four other guys were the big difference today.”
The Mustangs, ranked No. 2 in CCS at season’s end, came into the championship game with a 21-0-5 overall record and the Wildcatz, ranked No. 1 in CCS, were 24-1-1 before Friday’s victory, losing to only league rival Santa Cruz (the Division II CCS Champions) in their final regular-season contest.
“It did help us. It made us get a little more serious on our defense, a lot more serious. Pablo (Berreleza) and Oscar (Monjaras) did a good job. Our outside guys did a good job. They just couldn’t penetrate,” Hedgpeth said. “We just played our game plan, Our quick passes up front, I think did it.”
Even the strong push by the Mustangs to score the equalizer to begin the second half went unrewarded. Then Watsonville started to pressure again and Martinez’s low blast slipped through the hands of senior goalkeeper Luis Esqueda for a 2-0 spread. With 7:23 remaining plus injury time added by the official, Martinez scored Watsonville’s third goal to dash any hopes of a late Gilroy comeback.
“I think if we would have stuck to our game plan, we would have gave them a battle. At halftime, Coach Hall and (Armando) Padilla told us what to do and we didn’t do it,” Motagalvan said. “Watsonville is a great team. They’ve got players who can play. They’re really good. They’ve got players on the state, on the regional (teams).”
It was a much closer game the first time Gilroy and Watsonville bumped heads in the Homestead Cup Finals when the two top teams battled to a 2-2 tie at the end of regulation. The tournament format skipped overtime and went right into penalty kicks, where Watsonville won after the first three kickers.
“Even though we dodged a few bullets, we finished the chances we had (in the Homestead Cup). Today, we dodged the bullets, but the chances we had, they dodged them. We didn’t finish them,” Hall said. “They kept possession of the ball. They made us chase them all day. They’re an exceptional team with a bunch of excellent individual players with a lot of skill that play like a team.”
Gilroy’s best scoring opportunity of the first half came with the team already down by a goal. The ball was sent over the defense, Plata hustled to control it, and then laid into a left-footed blast. Unfortunately, it went right into the goalie’s hands.
Nearing the end of the opening half, another through ball was chased down by Hernandez, who could not settle it for a shot before a defender broke it up. In extra time for the first half, sophomore Luis Becerra sent a beautiful cross that was headed hard by Plata, but the ball was just wide of the near post.
“We just couldn’t finish them,” said Plata, who scored 14 goals in the regular season to help Gilroy claim the school’s first league title since 1984. “I really enjoy this team because, honestly, when we first started, I didn’t think we’d come all this way, especially undefeated until now. I’m proud of the team and I’m happy. Win or lose, you’ve just got to take it.”
It was a tough one for the Mustangs to take, losing in the championship game. Some players did their best to fight back tears, while others sat on the grass with their heads face down. Meanwhile, the Wildcatz jumped up and down in celebration.
“We talked about building a tradition and this is step number one. … All in all, I think we exceeded all of our expectations. Every game they came out and played with that heart and passion and determination that we said they needed to have,” Hall said. “Our boys worked hard and deserved everything that they got. I can tell you this, ‘There’s not a harder working bunch of boys than Gilroy High School in practices, in games, off the field.’
“Academically, this is the first time they are all eligible in a long time in Gilroy varsity history for the second half of the season. That was part of the contract that they signed,” Hall added. “We had a contract and one of our goals was to get to the finals, and we got there. The next part is just building the tradition. I don’t know how many times Watsonville’s been here and maybe with a little more tradition, a little more having been here under this pressure, next year, maybe, we can turn the tables on whoever we play.”
Gilroy loses only four seniors – but big ones in Hernandez, Plata, Esqueda, and Jose Cordova – while Watsonville will graduate just three seniors – Berreleza, Vasquez and Fidel Espinoza.
“I think this team had great character. Everybody every practice came and gave 110 percent, both off the field and on the field,” Motagalvan said. “The coaches prepared us well. We had a great run. I think everybody enjoyed it, but it’s sad how we ended. It was a heck of year for us. … I’ll be back.”
