The Haybaler boys soccer team started with just seven players in
Saturday’s Tri-County Athletic League game at Gilroy on
Saturday.
The match had to eventually be called with Gilroy up 5-1 as the
already shorthanded Balers lost a couple players to injury late in
the second half.
The Haybaler boys soccer team started with just seven players in Saturday’s Tri-County Athletic League game at Gilroy on Saturday.
The match had to eventually be called with Gilroy up 5-1 as the already shorthanded Balers lost a couple players to injury late in the second half.
The players weren’t available for a variety of reasons. Some missed the bus, some were out for missing practice and some were out for personal reasons.
Gilroy scored just a minute and a half into the lopsided 11 vs. 7 contest. The Mustangs scored again 18 minutes on a corner kick, which went directly into the upper left corner of the net.
The Balers were joined by a late player and tightened up their level of play.
“We allowed Gilroy to move freely up the sidelines,” said Baler coach Michael Warner. “But we blocked any attempt to cross into the center, employing a diamond defensive scheme.”
Even shorthanded, the Balers were able to score a goal. On a direct kick outside the penalty area from Jose Sanchez to Ernesto Lostanau, Jonathan Alonso split defenders and blasted a point blank shot. The half ended with the Balers down 3-1.
“They were exhausted, but came off the field feeling victorious in their quality of play,” Warner said. “This was a Herculean effort by our boys. To be playing the undefeated TCAL leader and CCS second-ranked Mustangs 8 vs. 11 and only be down a goal at half is a tribute to our kids’ strength and sense of honor. I couldn’t be more proud of them, especially as we were missing many key starters.”
Another player joined the Balers in the second half, but Gilroy soon was able to wear them out.
The Mustangs scored four minutes into the half and then coasted as the Balers ran out of energy. Gilroy scored two more goals for a 5-1 lead. With 15 minutes remaining in the game, Gilbert Bailon was yellow carded for pulling down a player in the box.
But Baler goalie Jorge Medina came up big stop for the weary Balers, pushing the ball over the crossbar.
“That seemed to breathe some new life into the Baler attack and was the last threat that Gilroy had as they started to substitute freely,” Warner said.
With about three minutes left, Sergio Lostanau cramped up on a hard tackle, and Bailon was out after in a knee-to-knee collision. With both players down, Warner asked for a stoppage of play due to the limited number of available players.
“It wasn’t very fair to continue, so I asked that they call it,” Warner said. “The referee agreed, and we ended with a wish for Gilroy to do well in the playoffs as our league representative. They are an outstanding team and should end the year undefeated. I just wish we could have played them at full strength and given ourselves an opportunity to win.”
JV Note: The Balers (8-5-2, 5-1-1 TCAL) suffered their first league loss of the season, falling 3-2 to Gilroy in a very close contest.
The game proved as evenly matched as the first meeting, and it wasn’t until the 32nd minute before Jose Diaz DeLeon took a ball down the right sideline and crossed to Armando Espinoza for the Balers’ first score.
Diaz DeLeon scored another goal on his own to put the Balers up 2-0 in the 34th minute. The Mustangs answered back two minutes later on an artful header off a corner kick, ending the half with the Balers up 2-1.
It took just 18 seconds for the Mustangs to tie the game at the start of the second frame. And with time running down, a Mustang player was able to weave through heavy traffic and break the tie.
“I was particularly impressed by the way Alejandro Ceja stepped up and played defense today,” coach Graham Wright said. “He was the reason the Mustang offense was shut down most of the game.”
