Gavilan men’s soccer head coach Justin Johnson called the Rams 2-0 victory over Coast Conference opponent Evergreen on Tuesday “really big.” Johnson needed only to point to last year’s meeting between the two schools for one reason to explain why – Gavilan lost that one 7-0.
“It’s a good way to show our growth against a team that handed it to us last season,” Johnson said. “Evergreen is a good team, but it’s also a big win psychologically. We didn’t have best performance on Friday, and when you don’t play well, you tend to throw hands up try and fix everything. We just needed to play, and we slugged it out with them. The execution was there.”
The Rams (5-3-1 overall, 1-0-1 conference) drew with Cabrillo 1-1 on Friday, in a match that all involved with the Gavilan program felt should’ve been a win.
On Tuesday, Gavilan struck first with Anthony Velasquez setting up Fabian Ruiz, who dribbled for possession then scored from outside the penalty area.
“He just ripped it,” Johnson said of the Rams initial tally in the 12 minute.
Gavilan added to it less than 10 minutes later on a goal from Kristian Urias. Pedro Ulloa was credited with the assist.
Goalie Eric Saavedra recorded his fourth shutout of the season.
VOLLEYBALL
Gavilan College hosted De Anza for the first of three Coast Conference crossover matches this week and promptly swept the Dons 25-17,25-21,25-17 on Tuesday night.
The Rams, who play in the Coast Conference South while the Dons are in the North, improve to 8-6 on the season.
Another balanced attack set the tone for Gavilan’s offense. Kayce Skocko (Watsonville) led the way with nine kills, Eva Latu (Seaside) had seven and Andreinna Castaneda (Modesto) contributed six. Facilitating those points was setter Sabina Gerard (Redlands), who had 35 assists. Kayondra Hood (Colorado Springs) had 21 digs. Gilroy’s Karina Daniels served a strong match and finished with five aces.
The Rams, who are ranked 23rd in the state and No. 8 in Northern California, travel to City College of San Francisco tonight and return home to host rival Cabrillo at 6:30 p.m. on Friday night.
