Mustang field hockey team beats N. Salinas in showdown of
league’s unbeaten teams
SALINAS – In a crucial game Thursday at North Salinas High, the Gilroy field hockey team gave up twice as many goals as it had during the entire league season.
Didn’t matter.
Because on this day – with first-place on the line – the Mustangs scored four times as many goals as the rival Vikings in a runaway 8-2 victory.
As a result, Gilroy clinched a second straight trip to CCS and all but wrapped up its second straight Mission Trail Athletic League title.
“We’re the best team in the league!” shouted GHS senior Meg Perkins moments after the game.
And it was hard to argue.
Last month, the two teams battled to a scoreless tie in Gilroy and both came into the match 7-0-2 and tied for first.
Not scoring in the first matchup was a “real wake-up call,” according to GHS freshman Amanda Spellman.
“Today we came out with total concentration,” Perkins added. “We’ve been thinking about this game non-stop.”
The sentiment was echoed by fellow senior Elena Ramirez.
“This is what every practice was for, what all the work was for,” she said. “We put it all together today. We were so pumped. So ready.”
It showed for the Mustangs (12-3-2/8-0-2 MTAL), who close out the regular season against York and Santa Catalina next week.
Seven different Gilroy players scored in the rout, which began when sophomore Erin Magill scored on a short corner with 10 minutes left in the first half.
After a few nice saves by GHS goalie Stephanie Glenn, senior Shante Mancera gave the ‘Stangs a 2-0 lead they carried into halftime.
During the break, co-head coach Adam Gemar told his team the goal was to put three more scores on the board.
They got six instead.
After North Salinas got on the board first, the Mustangs fired right back on a beautiful set play that went from Elena Ramirez to Perkins to Ramirez to a wide-open Nicole Souza right in front of the goal.
“We were scoring on set plays like that at the beginning of the year, but we somehow stopped doing them,” Gemar said. “They worked everytime today.”
It was all working for the Mustangs in the second half.
“After they scored, we lit them up,” Gemar said. “I couldn’t even keep track of it.”
Sophomore Kelly Perkins tipped in a shot from Ramirez. Thirty seconds later, Ramirez knocked in one of her own on a breakaway.
The Vikings did manage to cut it to 5-2, but it was 8-2 in only a matter of moments.
Karlie Sandoval, Meg Perkins and Ramirez all added goals within three minutes of each other.
“We just all worked together so much better than the first game,” Souza said. “We really wanted this one.”
The motivation was evident, said Gemar, who noted his team played its best game of the season.
“The girls were ready for it,” he said. “They knew what we had to do. We didn’t have to tell them.”
The coaches didn’t have to say much after the game, either.
The emotion was clear.
“I’ve been playing since my freshman year and this team has gotten better every year,” Perkins said before a teary-eyed speech to her teammates. “This ends it on a perfect note.”
