SAN JOSE — Gilroy’s Marc Rivera was just happy to get some playing time — but scoring the game winning goal was pretty sweet, too.
The freshman midfielder scored in the 66th minute off an assist from Andres Jimenez and was immediately mobbed by teammates. His goal would be the difference maker as the Mustangs would win 3-2 over Overfelt in the Central Coast Section Division II semifinals Wednesday at Pioneer High School.
“I was like ‘This can’t be real’ and then I saw the score was 3-1,” Rivera said. “I was so happy inside, I couldn’t believe it.”
The Royals scored off a penalty kick in the 77th minute and threatened again in stoppage time, but the Gilroy defense held tough. A misread by Mustangs goalie Angel Velasquez almost saw Overfelt score the equalizer, but junior Sean Kaufman stepped in to save the day.
“Sean today did a lot of work,” Velasquez said. “He backed me up on that last one right there which I have no excuse for. He totally helped me right there. That’s what defenders are for.”
Velasquez’s performance, however, should not be overlooked. The senior goalie came up with five big saves of his own, riding the momentum from Gilroy’s 4-0 shutout over Mt. Pleasant on Saturday.
The Mustangs offense got the ball rolling early, scoring off a Jimenez bicycle kick in the 17th minute. They didn’t have much time to celebrate, however, as Overfelt’s Juan Carlos Bugarin tied the game up in the 19th off an assist from Jose Nunez.
The Mustangs kept pushing, but were met by a sea of Royals defenders which left them unable to score again in the first half. The two teams took a 1-1 tie into the break.
Just moments after Overfelt goalie Eduardo Castaneda made a huge stop, he was faced with the near impossible task of stopping a Luis Urias penalty kick. Urias knocked the ball just passed the Royals keeper to give the Mustangs a 2-1 lead in the 50th minute, changing the momentum of the game in Gilroy’s favor.
“In the second half, once we settled in, we got sort of comfortable with the game,” Gilroy coach Armando Padilla said. “Things were moving a lot easier for us and I think we slowed them down. …I think that’s what we need to do going forward and just slow things down and play our style of soccer which is really possessive and moving that ball around.”
The Mustangs will take on Serra at 1 p.m. Saturday at Westmont High in San Jose. A win would make Gilroy the CCS DII champions and that, River said, would be a dream come true.
“It’s an honor playing as a freshman and going to the final,” he said. “If we win, that would be the best.”
