Brendan Spillane scored in the first half to lead Sacred Heart Prep’s boys soccer team to a 1-0 win over Gilroy High in the semifinals of the Central Coast Section Division III playoffs Wednesday night at Garcia-Elder Sports Complex.
Ninth-seeded Gilroy (11-10-2) was unable to extend its magical run after it defeated top-seeded Half Moon Bay, 7-6 on penalty kicks Saturday after the quarterfinal match had been tied, 3-3.
“I’m absolutely proud,” Mustangs coach Armando Padilla said. “We had a great opportunity to be in the playoffs in the first place, so to make it this far, I’m very proud of the kids. We regrouped and committed ourselves to refocus and see how far we can get in this tournament, and really, it was about having fun, working hard, just working and playing for one another.
“I’m absolutely super proud of the way our kids regrouped and played cohesive soccer.”
The Mustangs had several chances to score in the second half, including a corner kick with less than 15 minutes left and a free kick with less than 13 minutes remaining, but were unable to find the equalizer. The Mustangs also had a header go off the crossbar with about 9 minutes to play.
Gilroy was inserted into the Division III playoffs after Milpitas was booted from the Division I tournament when the Trojans failed to submit seedings paperwork to the CCS, shuffling the brackets.
The Mustangs turned their good fortune into a run to remember.
“It’s been really fun. Who wouldn’t want to come to the semifinals of CCS,” said Gilroy sophomore midfielder Andres Jimenez, one of the area’s leading goal scorers.
Gilroy struggled to a 4-6-2 finish in the tough Monterey Bay League Gabilan Division, but the Mustangs went 3-1 in their final four MBL matches.
“It was a crazy season, back and forth, but by playing for each other, we proved a lot,” Gilroy sophomore defender Sean Kaufman said. “I think consistency-wise we improved a lot, and that’s what got us to where we are now.”
