SAN JOSE — Do it for the seniors — that’s all that was on Gilroy’s Jackie Jauregui’s mind.
The Mustangs’ netminder was so close to picking up a shutout she could taste it, but Monta Vista was to slip one past her in the teams’ Central Coast Section quarterfinal meeting Saturday at Leland. That one goal was all the Matadors would get as Jauregui’s standout defense helped her team to a 5-1 win that advances it to the semifinals.
“It was really intense. I wish I got that shutout — I was hoping for it,” Jauregui said. “It was a really good game, everyone played fantastic and I’m so proud of my team. …We’re playing for our seniors right now.”
Katrina ‘KC’ Carter led the offense with a hat trick in the game, scoring her third goal in the 36th minute to put the Mustangs ahead 4-0 at that point. Maddie Cox scored the final goal in the 48th minute after a hard fought battle with the Monta Vista defensemen.
It only took three minutes for the classically dangerous Carter to get things going for Gilroy. The junior captain fired a shot into the far post to put the Mustangs ahead 1-0.
Carter attacked the net again in the 12 minute, but was unable to put the bread in the basket. Senior Emma Leach, however, was right there to pick up where Carter left off and scored in the 13th minute to increase Gilroy’s lead to 2-0.
Just minutes later, Carter was on the attack yet again to score the third goal of the first half in the 19th minute.
“I’m concerned we didn’t have any assists, they were all unassisted — every single one,” Gilroy coach Adam Gemar said. “It’s good and bad. The good part is they got them off of turnovers most likely and just went with it. The bad part is there’s no combination, no flow offensively. If offense comes from playing good D from the forwards, we’ll take it.”
Monta Vista had a shot on goal in the 28th minute, but Jauregui quickly deflected it. The Matadors had a chance to score off a corner in the 29th, but the Mustangs defense stayed strong and maintain a 3-0 lead at the half.
“Every time they were coming at me, I’m just like ‘Stop it. Stop it for my seniors. Do it for my seniors’,” Jaurgeui said.
Monta Vista’s lone goal came in the 51st minute and went right through Jauregui’s legs.
“I let that goal go by, but that’s OK,” the goalie said. “My thought process is always to do it for the seniors, make sure we go to playoffs and make sure we win each game for them.”
In addition to Cox and her goal on offense, Gemar said he was proud of how his younger players performed — especially given it’s a CCS quarterfinal game. Players like Cathy Carbajal and Ang Hayes complemented Carter, Leach and Taylor Silacci in fending off the MV attack.
“We’ve got six freshmen on our team,” Gemar said. “We’ve got six freshmen going to the semis — it’s unbelievable. …Hopefully on Wednesday everybody is prepared.”
The Mustangs move on to the semifinals where they will face the storied Archbishop Mitty team. The teams met twice in the regular season — tying 1-1 the first time, but Mitty won 6-0 the second time around.
The No. 4 seeded Mustangs (14-2-1) will take on No. 1 Mitty (17-1-2) in the CCS Semifinals at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday at Leland High School.
