Mustang boys soccer team has big week with games against
Salinas, Alisal
Gilroy – Judgment day awaits.
Several members of Gilroy’s boys soccer team have been grumbling about a lack of respect.
They have a point. After all, the latest Central Coast section rankings have Alisal at No. 3 and Gilroy at No. 10. The first-place Mustangs are unbeaten in the Tri-County Athletic League including a win over the Trojans.
At the same time, there are no more easy games left for Gilroy. The Mustangs are at Salinas on Monday and finish the regular season at home Wednesday against Alisal. That’s a virtual round-robin of the best three TCAL teams.
Gilroy is playing now at a much higher level now than it was during the early stages of the TCAL season when the Mustangs stumbled to ties with Alvarez and San Benito.
That was a Gilroy team of individuals struggling to make connections with teammates. The Mustangs would dominate teams and not be able to finish scoring opportunities.
That is still somewhat of a concern for co-coaches Armando Padilla and Brian Hall. And yet, this mix of veterans and youth now appear to be on the same page.
Another positive is how well they seem to get along and how they pick each other up. This is a team without superstars and yet one that is meshing well. Their 10-game unbeaten streak points to how well they are playing.
And yet it all comes down to the final week of the TCAL season. That’s the way it should be.
Girls Basketball in Second
Don’t look now but the defending TCAL champion GHS girls basketball team is in second place. Alisal’s stunning 46-45 win over Salinas on Faby Bernal’s game-winning shot with four seconds left proved to be the game-winner.
The Mustangs face their own moment of truth Tuesday when they are at league-leading North Salinas. It’s a tough matchup for Gilroy, which needs to be aware of the post presence of Dominque Hill as well as the penetration and range of Briana Mathews and Edthel Lugo.
The Mustangs don’t have a player in the top nine in the league in scoring and yet have four girls averaging between seven and 10 points a game. It’s defense where Gilroy excels with the Mustangs yielding just 37.4 points in TCAL games. During a current three-game win streak, Gilroy has yielded 100 points.
Playoffs Fast Approaching
For those keeping track, the first round of CCS playoffs is Feb. 13-15 for soccer, Feb. 20-22 for basketball. Soccer finals are Feb. 23-24. Basketball finals are March 2-3.
Gilroy hosts the TCAL wrestling meet Feb. 17. CCS championships are Feb. 23-24. The state championships are March 2-3 in Bakersfield.
The first GHS high school spring sports events start Feb. 20 with the Mustangs baseball team hosting Aragon and the tennis team at home with Palma.
Correction: The fence at the Gilroy softball field is intact. It was incorrectly reported that installation of a fence was on the to-do list at GHS.
