Girls soccer head coach Ben Alvarez knew the 2012 season was going be a strange year. He lost size and experience between the past two seasons and he needed to rely on young and inexperienced freshmen.
The team was always going to be better at the end of the season than at the beginning.
On Friday, in the season’s final game, that proved to be the case.
The Balers, behind five sophomores and three freshmen, finished the season on a four-game winning streak, highlighted by a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Alvarez during the Balers’ senior night Friday.
San Benito finished the season 8-2-2 in the Tri-County Athletic League and 11-5-4 overall, but missed a spot in the Central Coast Section playoffs. The Balers’ third-place finish in the TCAL left them one game out of a playoff spot.
“It’s too bad,” Alvarez said. “It’s unfortunate, because it’s nice for the kids to make it to the CCS.”
Instead, the Balers hope to continue their momentum into the new season in a newly reconfigured league, Alvarez said.
“I’m very, very happy with the way the kids played,” Alvarez said. “I have no complaints. The kids played an amazing season. The touch was outstanding. I felt we outplayed a lot of the teams.”
He continued: “These girls, most of them are coming back as returning players. I’m really looking forward to this. I’m very, very happy. So I’m kind of looking forward to next year – I really am. It’s going to be a good season for us. A lot of young players are coming back.”
And if Friday is a precursor, it could be a great season for San Benito.
Against the Eagles, the Balers dominated possession of the ball and pounded 25 shots on goal.
However, the game didn’t start great for San Benito.
Less than five minutes into the contest, the Eagles scored first off a corner kick. The shot sailed over keeper Anissa Stanton’s arms and fell into the legs of Alvarez’s Jackie Shearn, who shot the ball into the net.
“They fought for that ball and they were able to get it in,” Alvarez said of the Eagles. “It was just the beginning of the game. I knew as the minutes continued, we would get into the game. We were going to settle and things would happen.”
It didn’t take San Benito long to respond. Less than five minutes later, freshman Chace Miguel received a long pass from Kelly Gottron into the center of the field.
Racing forward a few feet, the wide-open Miguel powered a shot above Alvarez keeper Karina Alvarez’s hands.
After the goal, San Benito continued to dominate possession, but failed to score. In the first half, the Balers fired more than 15 shots at the net but only scored once.
“I’m disappointed that some of the shots weren’t able to get in,” Alvarez said. “If we take enough shots, and they don’t go in, oh well.”
San Benito wouldn’t tally another goal until the opening minutes of the second half, when Gottron scored on a through pass into the middle of the keeper’s box from Berenice Bribiesca.
Gottron struck the ball off the side of her foot, and it squeezed by the diving Alvarez keeper.
The goal ended a successful season for the Balers, Bribiesca said.
“Overall, the season was really good,” she said. “We played our best. We tried really hard this last game. I think we could have done better but we still held our own.”
And next year should be better, the junior said.
“We have a lot of young players and they are really skilled,” she said. “This is my third year, and this is one of the years we have had the most skill. The freshmen are really fast and this is a really fast team. I think next year, we are gong to have a better team. We are getting stronger every year.”
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