Gilroy High’s boys and girls soccer teams will both best hosting
Central Coast Section playoff games.
The boys, receiving a six seed after finishing the regular
season with a 12-5-6 record and fourth-place finish in the
Tri-County Athletic League, will host Gunn (9-6-5) at 6 p.m. on
Wednesday at Garcia-Elder Sports Complex. The girls, boasting a
13-3-4 record and winners of a third straight Tri-County Athletic
League title, received a four seed and a bye in the first round for
the first time in school history.
Both Gilroy soccer coaches were pleasantly surprised by the
seeds their teams received.
GILROY – One team expected to be here, while another can’t believe the gift it was given. Somehow, some way, Gilroy High’s boys and girls soccer teams will both be hosting Central Coast Section playoff games.
The boys, receiving a six seed after finishing the regular season with a 12-5-6 record and fourth-place finish in the Tri-County Athletic League, will host Gunn (9-6-5) at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at Garcia-Elder Sports Complex. The girls, boasting a 13-3-4 record and winners of a third straight Tri-County Athletic League title, received a four seed and a bye in the first round for the first time in school history.
Both Gilroy soccer coaches were pleasantly surprised by the seeds their teams received.
“Right now, I’m very excited,” girls’ coach Jose Hernandez said. “It’s the farthest we’ve ever been, round two, quarterfinals. We could be CCS champs in three games.”
Gilroy’s ladies have never won a CCS playoff game in five attempts. The bye acts as a pseudo-victory, as it sets up a second-round contest against the winner of No. 12 Homestead (11-6) and No. 5 Gunn (12-5-3) Saturday at Garcia Elder Sports Complex.
“I know they’re playing on Wednesday and we’ll check them out,” Hernandez said. “It’s nice to be on the other end of it. The last four years, we’ve always had the other team scout our games.”
The Mustangs have been bounced out of the playoffs four years straight after making a quick exit in the program’s first-ever appearance in 1997.
“I view it as kind of sticking with our thing: ‘We start strong, we finish strong,’ ” Hernandez said.
After losing its last game of the season 1-0 to rival Hollister on Friday, Hernandez’s squad might have a bit of regrouping to do before now and Saturday.
“”I think we need to put more heart into what we’re doing and work on finishing up top,” Gilroy defender Irene Figueroa said after the game.
Expecting a first-round contest instead of a bye following the contest, Hernandez was willing to shake off the loss and focus on the future.
“If this means we get to win a CCS game and lose the last regular season game, I’ll take that trade any day,” he said.
For Gilroy’s boys, the CCS seeding process couldn’t have turned out any better considering there was some trepidation they might not even make the playoffs just a week ago.
“It’s very surprising,” boys’ coach Armando Padilla said. “I think what benefitted us was the playoffs went to three divisions.”
Instead of a two-bracket, 16-team system, this year’s playoffs were constructed with three divisions with 12 teams each.
A 1-1 tie with Alisal, followed by a 5-1 win over San Benito on Thursday also could have been a big factor.
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 playoffs.
Two minutes into the second half, Ocana assisted another goal, feeding Alec Hernandez a pass to score the go-ahead goal. Fifteen minutes later, Gilroy scored another goal, this time by Alec Hernandez playing a ball to Jorge Sanchez. A minute later, Andy Moya passed off to Clemente Pineda for a goal.
Ocana tacked on another goal at the end by beating several defenders to slot a shot into the net. He ends the season leading the team in goals and assists with 10 and 11, respectively.
The playoff seeding of the Mustangs is made slightly more surprising by the fact that they received the highest grade of any team to advance from the TCAL. The league’s first-place team, Alisal (11-6-2) , received a nine seed and will host No. 8 Menlo-Atherton in its first-round contest.
Gilroy had 47.5 power points compared to Alisal’s 44, Padilla said. Gilroy’s coach added that if the Mustangs defeat Gunn, they would likely face No. 3 Mt. Pleasant (15-4-1) on Saturday in Gilroy. Garcia-Elder Sports Complex has already been selected as the host site for the second round, setting up a possible GHS soccer doubleheader if the boys are able to win.
“That would be huge,” Padilla said. “Both teams have been working so hard to get to this point.”
