GILROY – If positives and negatives were objects stacked onto a
giant scale, the former would far outweigh the latter pertaining to
the 2009-10 season for the Gilroy High girls soccer team.
With its 6-3-3 league mark a year ago, the Gilroy High boys
soccer team found itself smack dab in the middle of the Tri County
Athletic League standings.
In a league that never has a clear-cut favorite and with any
team having the capability to beat another day in and day out, the
Mustangs, led by head coach Armando Padilla have it within
themselves to get back to the top of the league and drive deep into
the postseason.
GILROY – If positives and negatives were objects stacked onto a giant scale, the former would far outweigh the latter pertaining to the 2009-10 season for the Gilroy High girls soccer team.
Entering his seventh year as head coach, Jose Hernandez has learned how to take the bad with the good, and this year is no exception.
Heading into this season where the Mustangs are out to defend their Tri County Athletic league title and capture their unprecedented fourth straight crown, Hernandez has the luxury of welcoming back seven starters from last year’s team that went 13-4-4 and earned its fifth consecutive berth in the Central Coast Section playoffs. However, of those returning seven, three are not expected to return because of a variety of injuries before January when the Mustangs’ schedule heats up with league play.
Among them is last season’s TCAL Junior of the Year, Ariana Carrillo and first-team all-league selection, Rahni Giardina.
The difference this year, Hernandez said, is that the Mustangs have enough bodies to overcome the early-season injuries, something they have had trouble dealing with in the past.
“This year we are solid enough,” Hernandez said.
Helping to pad the Mustangs’ lineup are junior captains Indra Garcia – the TCAL’s Sophomore of the Year – and Katelyn Nebesnick, a first-team all-league selection a year ago.
Joining the list of returning players is a stacked freshman class led by Cynthia Sanchez, who impressed Hernandez during the team’s two scrimmages last week.
“She is a natural striker,” Hernandez said. “She is able to open up the game with some long-distance shots. We have three players, I think, that have strong, accurate shots from distance.”
With the team engineered to have another impressive run through the TCAL, the lingering cloud over the team is its unlucky CCS history.
Perhaps the least favorable piece of history hanging over the team stems from more positives.
The Mustangs consistent success over the last handful of years has turned them into a perennial playoff team. But each year the Mustangs have been unceremoniously bounced after one game.
The added pressure of obtaining postseason glory would bother some coaches, leading to increased expectations on players.
But Hernandez, who took a 2-13-1 team his first year to what it is today, is using those past experiences to change how he coaches, which has led to a Zen-type attitude.
“I feel there is absolutely no pressure,” Hernandez said. “The biggest thing is that if we give everything we have we will be fine. We are sharing the responsibility. This year my teaching side is coming out a lot more. I’m working on my communication.”
The Mustangs are equipped with adept passing and a methodical, flowing offense. They are coming off of a year in which they produced 49 goals, while the stingy, swarming defense only allowed 15 tallies.
“This year, the big change is that we are acknowledging our strength and we are going to go with them,” Hernandez said. “We are going to use our strength consistently and be as versatile as possible.”
The Mustangs open up the preseason hosting last year’s CCS Division I champ Monta Vista on Friday at 6 p.m.
Varsity Boys
With its 6-3-3 league mark a year ago, the Gilroy High boys soccer team found itself smack dab in the middle of the Tri County Athletic League standings.
In a league that never has a clear-cut favorite with any team having the capability to beat another day in and day out, the Mustangs, led by head coach Armando Padilla have it within themselves to get back to the top of the league and drive deep into the postseason.
“I feel like we are contenders,” Padilla said. “I don’t think there is going to be a team that runs away with it. Alisal is always good and Palma, along with Alvarez and Salinas, have proven to be up and coming. Everything is a battle and you learn a lot form each game you play.”
In his tenure as the head coach of the Mustangs, Padilla has led the program to two Central Coast Section Division I finals, winning it all back in 2006-07.
“We definitely want to get back to that point,” Padilla said. “That is our goal.”
The Mustangs return 10 players to the pitch, including six seniors, two of which, Victor Garcia and Josh Gonzales have been apart of the varsity squad all four years.
Because a majority of the boys play on the same club team over the course of the year, the molding of a complete team that connects on every level has been much easier this year as in years gone by, Padilla said.
“Last year, we never really became one cohesive unit but already this year I’ve already seen that these kids are willing to work hard for one another,” he said. “They look like they are all on the same page and hopefully that carries over into the season.”
Along with Gonzales and Garcia, Forrest Alvarez is the third player who saw action in the Mustangs’ CCS championship win.
The Mustangs’ experienced group is bolstered by the return of last season’s TCAL Freshman of the Year, Luis Galvan, and Sophomore of the Year, Jorge Sanchez.
“Luis is extremely tough to beat in the defensive third of the field,” Padilla said. “Jorge has yet to play up to his potential. It could be scary to see what the results will be if he does that this year.”
The Mustangs have had two scrimmages thus far and Padilla said he had a chance to see the ability of his forwards and produce timely offensive attacks that begin in the defensive third and culminate in the back of the net.
“Jonathon Diaz DeLeon, we expected a lot of offense from him after he produced for us after we brought him up late last season. Sure enough he scored two beautiful goals for us.”
Also expected to make an immediate impact is first-year varsity participant Mario Gomez, who Padilla describes as having “speed, speed and more speed.”
The Mustangs get a chance right away to test out their new-found chemistry tonight as they take on Soquel at 6 p.m. in Gilroy.
