Anthony Velazquez registered his sixth goal of the season, breaking a 0-0 tie midway through the second half and ultimately lifting the Gavilan College men’s soccer team to a 1-0 triumph over visiting West Valley on Tuesday in Gilroy.
The Coast Conference tilt played tightly in the midfield, just as Rams’ head coach Justin Johnson figured. However, Velazquez managed to find space up top and took a short toe pass from Alex Mejia, challenged the lone remaining defender and delivered a right-foot shot past a diving Matt Grosey for the eventual game-winner.
“We were just a little bit more patient. We know that team likes to possess the ball, we know that they don’t give up many goals. We were just hoping, if we can stay patient, get one, we knew that we could probably hold them off the rest of the game,” first-year head coach Johnson said. “They played together. It’s a really big win for us.”
Goalie Eric Saavedra had six saves, including two in the final 15 minutes of play that thwarted quality chances from the Vikings (6-3-4, 4-2-1).
The Rams (8-4-1, 4-3 conference), coming off of a 4-3 defeat to Foothill on Friday, have yet to lose back-to-back games in 2011, and already have more wins than they had in the previous two seasons (6) and are two victories away from totaling more than the past three years combined (10).
Gavilan is on the road to face Cabrillo on Friday.
