Girls Soccer Falls to Santa Cruz, Los Gatos
It hasn’t been an easy start to the season for the Gilroy girls soccer team.
And the past two days have been particularly challenging.
The Mustangs lost 4-0 to Santa Cruz Wednesday and 3-0 to Los Gatos Thursday. Both teams are Central Coast Section powers who went to the semifinals of their divisions last year.
“Simple mistakes and not clearing the ball out,” said Gilroy head coach Jose Hernandez. “That’s what have allowed the goals.”
But despite having not won a game yet, Hernandez is optimistic about the team. He pointed out that last year, the team was completely dominated by Los Gatos in a 5-0 loss. But on Thursday, Gilroy (0-4-1) was competitive and controlled the ball toward the end of the match.
The non-league competition the B-league Mustangs have played thus far has been tough. Just about all have been CCS A-League teams. Today’s opponent, Scotts Valley, is no different. The game is at home at 5:30pm.
“Even though our record doesn’t show it, this has been a great test for us both in character and ability,” Hernandez said.
The benefits of being tested early in the season should begin to show next week when Gilroy begins TCAL play against Hollister on Tuesday.
The coach said his team was able to make adjustments and play a stronger game against Los Gatos than it had on Wednesday against Santa Cruz.
“Today, one very good thing was that we started moving the ball started working on things we wanted to try to fix,” he said. “We did do that today. We just haven’t eliminated all the mistakes.”
Girls Basketball Rolls to 5-0
Life continues to be good for the Gilroy girls basketball team.
The Mustang stayed undefeated by rolling over Monterey 59-35 in the first round of the Breaker Invitational at Pacific Grove High on Thursday.
The Mustangs take on Hilmar today in the second round at 6:30pm.
Offensively, Gilroy started out with a bang and took a 25-8 lead after one quarter of play. At halftime, they led 39-16.
“We were just clicking,” said Gilroy head coach Kari Williams. “I mean, everything was going. We were making great passes, reversing the ball, penetrating and dishing. We really got off to a great start.”
Senior forward Jessica Groppe led a balanced scoring attack with 16 points and sophomore Vanessa Wilkins added 10. Sophomore Amanda Spellman, senior Katherine Hussey and junior Russhelle Preeshl each added six points.
Gilroy’s meeting with Hilmar tonight is a re-match of last year’s Breaker Invitational, in which the Mustangs lost by four points. Williams is hoping to avenge that loss this year.
“They’ve been a pretty tough team in the past,” she said.
Even with starting shooting guard Marissa Nowakowski out of the lineup with the flu Thursday, Williams said her squad didn’t miss a beat.
“I think that we’re playing really good right now,” Williams said.
