An even first half turned into a blowout Thursday afternoon, as
Gilroy High’s boys soccer team dominated rival Hollister in the
second half to win 5-1.
GILROY – An even first half turned into a blowout Thursday afternoon, as Gilroy High’s boys soccer team dominated rival Hollister in the second half to win 5-1.
“It was a great result,” Gilroy coach Armando Padilla said. “It wasn’t quite the whole story in the first half. We were struggling.”
Gilroy’s John Paul Sanchez scored the game’s first goal in the 15th minute, taking an assist from Bruce Ocana.
Hollister tied it up seven minutes later, setting up a tense talk during halftime.
“At halftime, it was pretty frustrating because we knew we had to get a result,” Padilla said.
Without a win, Gilroy thought it wouldn’t be able to qualify for the Central Coast Section playoffs. Coaches didn’t relieve the pressure with a motivational speech during the intermission. Instead, they told players to focus on executing the gameplan.
“We didn’t say too much,” Padilla said. “I wrote this lineup on a paper and I said, ‘You figure it out.’ ”
Two minutes into the second half, Ocana assisted another goal, feeding Alex Fernandez a pass to score the go-ahead goal.
Fifteen minutes later, Gilroy scored another goal, this time by Fernandez playing a ball to Jorge Sanchez.
A minute later, Andy Moya passed off to Clemente Pineda for a goal.
“At this point, it felt like we were having our way with Hollister, but we were playing with a sense of urgency, a sense of pride,” Padilla said.
Ocana tacked on another goal, beating several defenders to slot a shot into the net.
The win still might not be enough for Gilroy (12-5-6 overall, 6-3-3 Tri-County Athletic League) to make the Central Coast Section playoffs, as Alvarez (8-8-4, 6-2-4) ended up winning its final game to take third in league over fourth-place Gilroy.
Strength of schedule is a factor in deciding who makes the Round of 16 for the CCS playoffs, but Gilroy’s slot in the league standings could hold it back from continuing.
“We’re looking at anywhere between 40 to 46 power points, which is huge,” Padilla said.
Gilroy’s coach speculated that the Alvarez team has only accumulated 28 power points with the quality of teams it has played in league and during the preseason.
Alvarez does have a claim to being a playoff-worthy team, though.
According to Mbaypreps.com, Alvarez lost four games from forfeit due to a player being ruled ineligible ion those matches. The result for the Eagles (8-8-4 overall, 6-2-4 TCAL) otherwise would have been a 1-1-2 record in the four games played.
“You could say, ‘Yes, we’re deserving of (missing the playoffs as) a fourth-place team, but we’re starting to click at the most important time of the year,” Padilla said.
A final decision on whether Alvarez or Gilroy, or both will teams make the CCS playoffs will be decided Saturday.
