Llamas touches in lone goal off Hernandez header in 1-0 home
victory over Fremont
GILROY – Scoring off set pieces has been a major part of the Gilroy High boys soccer team’s focus this season. Every day at practice, the Mustangs work on it and work on it until it gets done right.
In Tuesday’s 1-0 home victory over Fremont, a perfect combination of passes on a set piece got them the lead in the first half and ended up being the deciding factor.
“The result is great, but the process, the build-up, is still not there. We still have little mistakes that keep on ocurring,” Coach Armando Padilla said. “We’ve just got to execute.”
Junior captain Alfonso Motagalvan – who stepped back from his usual center-midfield position to fill in for the ill Artemio Arteaga (flu) at stopper – got into the scoring mix anyway. On a free kick outside the penalty box, Motagalvan sent a ball to the far post, where senior striker Javier Hernandez was waiting. Hernandez then headed the ball back to the opposite post for teammate Juan Llamas to touch in with 30 seconds left in the half.
“Beautiful goal. We’ve been practicing free kicks and set plays for the last couple of weeks and it paid off for us. That was a lot of people in the right place,” Coach Brian Hall said. “The ball hit far post on the cross. He knew he didn’t have a good angle so he just dumps the ball to the opposite post. Javi hit it over and Llamas was there to finish for us.”
Despite a slew of scoring chances generated by the Mustangs, the undefeated kickers (4-0-2) managed to convert on only one – which was good enough to get the ‘W’ and avenge a 1-0 loss to Fremont last season.
“Same old story today, no finishing. We had nice far posts three or four times in front of the net. We just lack that killer instinct,” Coach Hall said. “It’s the same story as last time. The hard ones we got. The ones where we’re one-v-one with the keeper or open net we’re missing.”
It has become a double-edged sword for Gilroy – which controlled the tempo once again like in Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Branham, but kept their opponents in the game by not finishing sure goals.
“I think tactically we really outplayed them. The only chances they really had were when we fouled them and they would service the balls into the penalty area,” Hall said. “We keep letting the other teams in the game because of our lack of killer instinct.”
Fremont was inches away from tying the score in the second half when a blast from the right side that looked like it was going in dinged off the far post and back onto the field of play. The Mustang defense – which has been shutting out opponents each game – eventually cleared the ball and ended the threat.
“They had a great opportunity on a quick restart,” Coach Padilla said. “They played the ball wide and split our defense and got an opportunity.”
Hernandez had a golden opportunity to put the Mustangs up early in the first half – but, after receiving a cross from teammate Jorge Plata, he touched the ball wide of the open net.
“Three quarters of the field we play great. The final third is where the execution lacks,” said Coach Hall, whose squad outshot Fremont by a 13-6 margin. “It’s not from lack of creating opportunities.”
On numerous occasions, Gilroy would control the ball in the middle, send it out to the wings, and get a cross to the far post. But each time, there were no forwards there to make the final touch.
Other times, a through ball would give the attacker a free run at the net – but they got in too tight and could not get a good enough angle to put one by the keeper.
With scoring hard to come by, the pressure rested on the garlic defense – which stepped up without their anchor, Arteaga. Motagalvan never let a man behind him and outside backs Ismael Nava and Aaron Thomas pestered the Fremont attack into turnovers.
“We had to make some adjustments. We brought Alfonso back and rearranged some other guys,” Coach Padilla said. “Ishi (Nava) is always aggressive on the outside, sometimes a little over aggressive, but aggressive enough like we need him to be.”
Midfielder Ben Alcantar played strong at the defensive midfield position – helping out the back line along with teammate Jose Cordava.
“They set the tone in the middle and won a lot of balls for us,” Coach Hall said.
Striker Luis Esqueda gave the Mustangs a spark off the bench with his blazing speed and non-stop hustle. But once again, Llamas, the team’s leading scorer with four goals, found the back of the net.
“Juan Llamas, the kid comes through,” Coach Padilla said.
“He’s at the right place at the right time,” Coach Hall added. “That’s a credit to him, his nose for the goal.”
Gilroy – which shut out Sequoia in its first win – will play its second game of opening pool play in the Homestead Christmas Cup on Saturday against Independence High at Valley Christian High School. Kick-off is at 10:15 a.m.
