GILROY — Christopher looked like it was going to escape Scotts Valley with a victory, but maybe that was the problem.
Despite leading for most of the game, the Cougars fell 6-4 to the Falcons at home in the opening round of the MBL Tournament Tuesday.
“I thought the game went really good at the beginning,” Natalie Garcia said. “I think we were just so excited and we got so caught up in the moment and we just lost our momentum. …They played a really good game.”
The Cougars struck first, jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the first off a Garcia goal. SV was able to answer, however, to tie the game at 1-1 after the first. Christopher was able to take a 3-2 lead into the half, after Garcia put the bread in the basket twice more to pick up a hat trick in the game.
“The intention was to break her free by pulling people to one side of the pool allowing her to go to the other side empty,” CHS coach Jim Shuster said of his strategy for Garcia.
SV tied the game at 3-3 halfway through the third, but Christopher immediately gained control off a Cristina Mendoza goal. Unfortunately for Christopher, the Cougars had no answer for the Falcon’s two fourth quarter scores.
The Cougars will play in the consolation bracket against Alvarez at 5 p.m. today at Gilroy High School.
“I think our mentality going into the next game is just to not be so confident going in next time,” Garcia said. “I feel like we have to play every single game like we’re down by five so we keep playing to all of our ability. Communicating in the pool is key — we have to communicate. We didn’t really much of that today but we will next time.”
