Gilroy’s Pineda saves team again
For the second straight game, he came off the bench to salvage a tie for the struggling Gilroy High boys’ soccer team.
In all likelihood, though, there won’t be anymore similar opportunities for Jose Pineda.
The junior’s recent energetic play and his second-half goal in the Mustangs’ 1-1 home draw with North Salinas Tuesday was enough to not only earn the substitute praise, but also a starting spot from co-head coach Brian Hall.
“The one thing I was happy with was the play of Jose Pineda,” Hall said. “He’s earned himself a starting position. The kid plays with heart. He at least competes … at least tries to create things.”
That was about the end of the good news for Gilroy, though.
For the second consecutive match, the defending TCAL champs had to fight to tie up a team it had easily beaten earlier in the season.
First it was Palma on Saturday. Then yesterday it was North Salinas, which the ‘Stangs beat 3-0 in mid-January.
Against the Vikings, Gilroy’s listless play began even before the match, according to Alfonso Motagalvan.
“It was just a sloppy warmup,” the senior co-captain said. “It seemed like everyone was sleeping. Some guys just didn’t show up to play.”
In the first half, neither team even got a single shot-on-goal. After halftime, the action picked up considerably.
Not too long after Motagalvan missed the first of his three header chances off the post, North Salinas took the first of its two shots.
This one hit off the bottom of the left post and went in, giving the Vikings a 1-0 lead in the 45th minute.
After that, it was all Gilroy.
The Mustangs (11-2-3/4-1-2) dominated the ball for most of the second half, firing off eight shots and keeping the ball almost constantly on the Vikings’ side of the field.
“I think it took them scoring a goal,” Motagalvan said, “for us to wake up.”
A few minutes after Pineda missed a golden opportunity right in front of the goal, Motagalvan found him again.
And this time he delivered – lobbing a shot right over the approaching goalkeeper’s head in the 59th minute.
“I saw him coming up, so I started to run and then just kicked in,” Pineda said.
Despite a few more decent chances, the Mustangs weren’t able to cash in. Instead, they had to settle for a tie and a slight second-place lead over North Salinas (12-3-2/4-2-2).
Desperately in need of a win, Gilroy now readies for a match Thursday against first-place Live Oak (13-0-5/6-0-1), which beat the ‘Stangs, 2-0 on Jan. 18. Game time in Morgan Hill is set for 3:30pm.
“If we win that game, we’ll definitely have more confidence,” junior midfielder Ben Alcantar said. “We have to win it.”
With the postseason soon approaching, Gilroy heads into Morgan Hill in dire need of momentum.
“I think it’s good to play a game against Live Oak,” Motagalvan said. “But we’ve got to play well going into the playoffs, or else we’re gonna get knocked out real early.”
