Winning is said to solve everything, but not in the case of the
Gilroy High boys’ soccer team, which escaped from Salinas with a
1-0 victory Thursday.
”
We got a mess going on right now,
”
Mustangs coach Armando Padilla said.
SALINAS – Winning is said to solve everything, but not in the case of the Gilroy High boys’ soccer team, which escaped from Salinas with a 1-0 victory Thursday.
“We got a mess going on right now,” Mustangs coach Armando Padilla said.
Despite picking up a big win Thursday through a perfect Jorge Sanchez header in the second half, which was placed into the top left corner and assisted on a corner kick sent in by Bruce Ocana, as well as receiving a stellar performance by goalkeeper Alfonso Torres, Gilroy also suffered a loss when it was informed earlier in the day that senior forward Carlos Cortez will not be able to play the rest of the season.
Cortez received his second red card of the season in a 3-0 loss to Palma on Feb. 3. Tri-County Athletic League rules, Padilla said, state that a player cannot compete after accumulating two red cards. Both of Cortez’s red cards were soft, meaning he picked up two yellow cards to earn the ejection in both instances.
“It’s kind of a bummer, because Carlos is a spirited kid and loves the game,” Padilla said, adding that he felt Cortez unfairly received his first red card in a Dec. 8 match.
“We were up 8-0 at North Salinas and he’s yelling (from the bench) at one of our guys to get back and play goal-side (defense), and he received a yellow card for yelling obscenities on the field.”
Cortez’s first yellow card in that game was given for a physical tackle.
The loss of Cortez is yet another blow for a team that had lost back-to-back games in 3-0 shutouts prior to Thursday’s win. The Mustangs were looking forward to pairing Cortez and Sanchez together after an ankle injury kept Sanchez (eight goals) out of the lineup until just recently.
“That’s a huge loss,” Padilla said. “After Jorge was injured, we were looking at Carlos to lift up our goal scoring opportunities.”
Cortez was third on the team with five goals, behind only Sanchez and Ocana, who has a team-leading nine goals and nine assists.
Padilla added that the rule regarding two red cards was not one he knew of before being informed by GHS Athletic Director Jack Daley late last week.
“That kind of stuff is not made aware to coaches at the beginning of the season,” he said. “It’s a harsh blow; almost like it’s brought on to you like you never knew it was there.”
Two tough games remain for the Mustangs (11-5-5 overall, 5-3-2 TCAL). Gilroy will play on the road Tuesday at 5 p.m. against the league champion Alisal Trojans. The regular season finale will be Thursday in Gilroy against rival Hollister. A CCS playoff spot will be on the line.
“We got a tough game ahead of us, but I still think we can gain an at-large berth if we win one and tie one,” Padilla said.
