For whatever reason, playing at North Salinas is always rough
territory for the Gilroy boys soccer team.
Gilroy – For whatever reason, playing at North Salinas is always rough territory for the Gilroy boys soccer team.
Two years ago, the Mustangs lost two players to red cards against the Vikings. On Tuesday evening, Gilroy received nine yellow cards.
“We always escape with a victory,” said Gilroy head coach Armando Padilla. “But it’s just always been tough to go over there.”
Tuesday’s game was no different. Gilroy (6-4-2, 3-1 TCAL) scored a goal in each half to leave with a 2-0 win against the Vikings (5-4-2, 3-1-1 TCAL), who came into the game tied for first place in the Tri-County Athletic League with Live Oak.
“Going in, we thought it was going to be the game that decided the top two teams in TCAL,” Padilla said. “We started the game off pretty strong.”
Gilroy scored its first goal four minutes into the first half when sophomore forward Jairo Rodriguez scored on a cross from junior midfielder Humberto Pineda.
Though the Mustangs controlled the ball for the rest of the half, the team had to adjust to the tightly officiated game.
“It made it really difficult for us to play our style of play, which is hard, physical and fast,” Padilla said.
Gilroy’s defense made adjustments accordingly, but still applied enough pressure to the North Salinas forwards to keep them scoreless. Padilla credited senior defender Gabe Mendoza, a first-year varsity player, with anchoring the defense.
“He did an excellent job of solidifying our defense and keeping up our shutout,” Padilla said.
Because of the tight officiating, Mendoza said the defenders had to be smart.
“It was a challenge, especially for the defense because you have to go in hard, but be smart,” he said. “If you go in hard and are stupid, you get a card with these kinds of refs.”
In the second half, junior midfielder Jose Velasquez scored the Mustangs’ second and final goal. He was assisted by junior midfielder Noel Vera. It was the second time in two games that those two players connected for a goal.
The Mustangs travel to Salinas today for a 5:30pm game with the fourth-place Cowboys.
