Salinas
– It was 50 minutes after the scheduled noon starting time as
Gilroy’s Jose
”
Tapon
”
Velasquez loosened up Saturday on the soccer field at
Alisal.
Salinas – It was 50 minutes after the scheduled noon starting time as Gilroy’s Jose “Tapon” Velasquez loosened up Saturday on the soccer field at Alisal.
The opening Central Coast Section playoff game between Gonzales and Pajaro Valley had come down to penalty kicks (Gonzales won). Velasquez wanted no part of that type of game, with turf temperatures already approaching 80 degrees.
“Eighty minutes of hard soccer,” Velasquez said.
The Mustangs followed the cue of their senior scoring leader, whose goal provided the impetus for a 5-0 Division 1 quarterfinal win over Woodside. The win vaulted Gilroy into a semifinal matchup with No. 1 seed Lincoln at 4:30pm today at Milpitas High.
Freshman Forrest Alvarez scored first for the Mustangs (15-2-5) 27 minutes into the game when he took a well-placed pass from Velasquez that was on the outside of his right foot and beat keeper Paul Barbosa.
But Woodside (7-8-7) was still in the game until Velasquez scored with three minutes left until halftime. Humberto Pineda sent a kick wide right of the goal. It hit on the end line and spun back into play. Barbosa picked the ball up and set it down. Velasquez nudged the ball into the net.
“I saw the ball there and shot it in,” said Velasquez, a member of the last GHS team to make it to the CCS final three years ago. “That finished them. Their level of play went down after that. And they were tired from the heat.”
“He doesn’t give up,” GHS co-coach Brian Hall said of Velasquez. “After that goal, they got frustrated and we seemed to get more energized. The good thing is the last 15, 20 minutes, everyone got a chance to play.”
It was a good thing for the Mustangs, too, because by the midway point in the second half temperatures were in the low 80s, and that was off the turf. It may have contributed to Gilroy’s slow start.
The Mustangs struggled to get off good shots in the first 20 minutes of the game. In fact, the Wildcats had the first opportunity 18 minutes into the contest when they had two corner kicks within seconds of each other.
Once the Mustangs got on the scoreboard, they were in control. Five different players had goals. Twelve minutes into the second half, Pineda scored on an assist from Carlos Cortez. Eight minutes later, Bruce Ocana scored on a pass from Pineda. Freshman Josh Gonzalez capped the scoring with three minutes remaining on assist from Randy Moya.
“We played a lot better game today (than against Mt. Pleasant in the first round),” defender Kevin Grove said. “The team has really come together well. This team is peaking at the right time.”
It will need to be at its best tonight against Lincoln (18-2-2), a highly skilled team that beat Alisal and Santa Clara in the first two rounds.
“We have to play our game,” Velasquez said. “We need to play the way we’ve been playing.”
“Everyone knows we’re two wins away from a CCS title, and yet everyone knows that we have to win the first one,” Hall said. “And Lincoln will be a good test.”
The Lions bring a 19-2-2 record into the contest. and is the favorite, the Gilroy.
“If continue to play the we have and come out and execute our game plan I think we will do OK,” GHS co-coach Armando Padilla said. “The focus has to be on team play. I think we’re clicking and finding our right chemistry. We’re right on target to reach our peak as far as our team play.”
