Sports

A pair of underclassmen standouts lifted the Gilroy High girls varsity soccer team to a 1-0 halftime lead against visiting Scotts Valley on Thursday night. However, the defending Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League champion Falcons deposited three second-half goals to down the Mustangs 3-1 in a nonleague tilt.

SAN JOSE — “I am so proud of you guys,” Gilroy field hockey coach Adam Gemar said during his team’s postgame circle. “Just think of how far we’ve come.”

With the game scoreless entering the second half, the Gilroy field hockey team knew it had to come out with a fire — and they did just that. The Mustangs scored three goals in the second half to top Presentation 3-1 at home Wednesday.  Katrina 'KC' Carter led the team with two goals while Emma Leach added one her own and an assist. Taylor Sillaci also had two assists in the game.  "The team is looking better," Mustangs coach Adam Gemar said. "We've set some reachable goals for our forwards, outside and inside mids and our def(ense) as well  — it seems to be that we're starting to reach those goals. The Mustangs will play at 5 p.m. Wednesday against Live Oak for their last home game of the season. The team will honor its seniors for with a pregame ceremony.  GIRLS VOLLEYBALL Cougars blanked by 'Balers Christopher was on a two-game winning streak, but San Benito quickly put an end to that. The Haybalers topped the Cougars 3-0 in straight sets at Christopher Tuesday. The loss drops CHS to 11-12 overall and 4-5 in league play. Stats from this game were not immediately available. The Cougars will play at 6:30 p.m. today at Salinas.  CROSS COUNTRY Gilroy boys finish first at Center Meet III The Gilroy boys varsity team blew away its competition, finishing 27 points ahead of the next best team at the Center Meet III at Pinto Lake Wednesday. The boys finished with a score of 38 ahead of runner up Palma who had 65. Christopher finished sixth with 132 points. The girls team took third with 64 points, just behind Christopher who had 62 points. Watsonville took first with 54 points.  The Mustangs featured four runners in the top 10, including Sean Kauffman who finished fourth in a time of 17:13.8. Kairo Barrose took sixth (17:25.4) with Jonathan Viveros right behind him in seventh (17:29.4). Jose Tony Barrados finished ninth in 17:52.3. Christopher's Hector Lopez finished 19th in 18:24.9. On the girls side Jamie Boutte was the first Gilroy-area runner to cross the finish line. The Christopher runner finished second in 20:07.6, right ahead of teammate Natalie Filippi who took third in 20:07.6. Vicky Fox took seventh for the Cougars in 21:07.1  Monica Ruelas was first across for the Mustangs, taking fifth in 20:43.3. Karla Lozano took 11th in 21:48.6 and Jackelyn Gomez Gonzalez was 12th (22:15.6). Bianca Johnson finished with a time of 23:04.1 that was good for 18th place. GIRLS TENNIS Mustangs fall to N. Salinas in last home match  The Gilroy girls tennis team won the most matches it has all season, but it was enough to lift it past North Salinas. The Mustangs lost 3-5 to the visitors Tuesday in their final home match of the season.  No. 4 Carissa Jackson won her match 7-5, 5-7, 10-8 for the lone Mustangs' singles win.  The No. 1 team of Nicole Holder and Caitlin Filice-Hollar won in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 while the No. 2 team of Mya Esquivel and Victoria Rodriguez won 6-3, 7-5.  Gilroy (0-9) is at the tale end of its schedule and will play its second to last game at 4 p.m. today at Monte Vista Christian. 

Gilroy women’s mixed martial artist Brianna Van Buren lost her strawweight (115-pound) feature bout by unanimous decision against Stephanie Eggink as part of the Xtreme Fighting Championships card XFC 23: Louisville Slugfest on Friday night at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, Ky.

Wes Piatt sat alone under the bleachers. He was preparing himself for the impending disappointment that he was sure would come.

Though the Christopher High girls volleyball team fell two victories short of qualifying for the Central Coast Section playoffs, the 2011 season can still be considered a banner year. The Cougars posted a program best 18 wins, including seven in Monterey Bay League play en route to a fourth-place finish in the seven-team league under first-year head coach Tom Schatz.

GILROY—Christopher girls tennis swept doubles play on its way to a 5-2 win over Alvarez Thursday on the road.

GILROY — When Emma Leach was in sixth grade, she told her parents that there was one thing she needed for Christmas — a field hockey stick. It wasn’t top of the line or anything fancy, but that stick sparked a dream of playing Division I hockey.