Lady Mustangs Knot 1-1 Tie with North Salinas
The Gilroy girls soccer team still didn’t finish on goals they way it would have liked against Salinas Tuesday night, but that was OK with Mustang head coach Jose Hernandez.
The main thing was that the team regrouped after back-to-back losses to Notre Dame and North Salinas last week.
“We kind of went on a fake high when we beat Live Oak,” said Gilroy head coach Jose Hernandez, referring to last Monday’s first-ever Tri-County Athletic League win over the Acorns. “Then when went on a fake low when we lost to Notre Dame. We went too far in out emotions.”
But at Salinas Tuesday night, the Mustangs struck more of a balance. Behind a first-half goal from Nubia Diaz de Leon, the Mustangs battled to a 1-1 draw with the Lady Cowboys.
Gilroy (7-6-5, 7-2-2 TCAL) has already sealed a spot in the Central Coast Section playoffs by finishing in the top two in league. But the Mustangs’ title hopes partly lie in the hands of current Tri-County Athletic leader North Salinas (13-3-1, 8-3 overall). Both teams have one league game remaining, with North Salinas taking on Notre Dame and Gilroy hosting Sobrato Thursday. Gilroy needs to beat the Bulldogs and have North Salinas fall to the Spirits to get a share of the league title.
Salinas, which is currently tied for second with Gilroy, could also take second but won’t contend for a postseason spot because of a recent CCS playoff ban.
“We weren’t used to having first place and being in that position,” said Hernandez of the hold his team had on the No. 1 spot before last week. “We kind of let things slip but we’ve been able to regroup. We played a hard defensive team and tied them at home and I’m happy about that.”
Diaz de Leon gave the Mustangs a 1-0 lead a little over halfway through the first half. Gilroy midfielder Amanda Bruce serviced a corner kick in front of the Salinas goal and Diaz de Leon put the ball in the back of the net.
But Salinas countered with its own goal a few minutes later. Gilroy had chances – including a one-on-one opportunity within the last two minutes – but couldn’t finish in the second half. Gilroy goalie Sara Hugo (5 saves) made an important save toward the end of the game to hold the Lady Cowboys, whom the Mustangs beat 5-2 in the first TCAL meeting between the two teams.
“I thought we did an excellent job of controlling the middle. We really controlled the tempo and the game,” Hernandez said. “The bad news was that we didn’t finish.”
Gilroy hosts Sobrato Thursday at 5:30pm, where the Mustangs will also celebrate Senior Night.
