Gilroy erases early deficit to defeat Soquel
Gilroy – It took Gilroy the whole first half and the first 19 minutes of the second half to gets its offense untracked.
Once that happened, the Mustangs were able to dispatch pesky Soquel 3-1 at Garcia-Elder Complex.
Gilroy (3-1) dominated ball possession in the early going but one bad pass led to the Knights’ goal 19 minutes into the first half and a 1-0 deficit. Jose Espinoza was assisted by Anthony Gooch for Soquel’s (2-2-1) goal.
It left coach Armando Padilla shaking his head and muttering, “We control possession for 20 minutes and they score.”
GHS got the equalizer when Jose “Tapon” Velasquez scored off a well-placed corner kick by Bruce Ocana. But the Mustangs had plenty of other opportunities that they couldn’t convert.
It was the same during the early going in the second half. Velasquez and Humberto Pineda each had open shots on goal that weren’t converted.
Finally, Pineda broke through 19 minutes into the half with Edgar Hernandez getting the assist. Hernandez had a shot that was blocked by a defender, and the ball caromed to Pineda, who punched an 18-yarder into the left corner of the net.
Freshman Victor Garcia got his first goal of the season with six minutes left. Anthony Velazquez passed to Pineda, who returned a one-touch pass to Velazquez. His shot was blocked by the goalkeeper, but Garcia came running in from the far post to blast in an insurance goal.
“Like the Monta Vista game, we made a stupid pass which they intercepted and gave up an early goal,” co-coach Brian Hall said. “It was the exact same error that came back to haunt us.”
This time, though, Gilroy continued to attack.
“We finally started connecting with our passes, and started playing to our strengths, which is ball possession and moving the ball quickly,” Hall said. “In the last two games, we have showed when we come out with focus and energy what we can do as a team.”
The Mustangs will be tested Saturday when they face perennial power Leland at De Anza College in Cupertino.
