LOS GATOS
–– The Haybalers walked off the field with their heads held high
after the 4-1 loss to No. 7 Los Gatos on Wednesday.
Although no one on the No. 10 seeded girls soccer team wanted to
end the season yet, they were encouraged by a strong year.
LOS GATOS –– The Haybalers walked off the field with their heads held high after the 4-1 loss to No. 7 Los Gatos on Wednesday.
Although no one on the No. 10 seeded girls soccer team wanted to end the season yet, they were encouraged by a strong year.
“No one walked off the field with tears in their eyes or heads low,” said assistant coach Ted Vandenberg. “You saw laughter, friendship and love after a great season. They felt good that they left what they had on the field.”
It was the team’s third playoff appearance and second in a row despite having just one club player. Rose Vandenberg is the only Baler who plays club soccer, but most of the Los Gatos team has club experience.
Los Gatos (10-5-4) will be moving on in the in Central Coast Section Division 1 playoffs to face No. 2 Aptos. In other action, No. 5 Live Oak defeated No. 12 Alisal 5-1 and plays No. 4 Carlmont.
Until the second half when Los Gatos scored three goals within 10 minutes, the Balers were looking for that one goal that would have changed the game around, even though they were outshot 14-5.
The Balers (10-6-5) didn’t have any corner kicks in the game, and Los Gatos had the only two yellow cards issues.
Los Gatos got on the board in the 24th minute. Ali Rubnitz had a steal near the Balers’ goal and passed the ball to Elizabeth Magna, who took it down the right sideline. Magna got by a defender and crossed to the middle to Katie Bonadies in front of the net.
“We wanted to try to be the first to the ball and wanted to try to win the goal kicks, which we weren’t doing in the first half,” said Baler coach Michael Schurig about the halftime strategy. “They had a lot more shots than we did in the first half, but we still walked away down 1-0 at the half, so we knew we still had a chance.”
“Our game plan was to shut them out and look for that one goal,” Vandenburg added. “But even when the girls were down 4-0, they never gave up.”
Jenny Maheu scored the lone goal for the Balers in the 68th minute. Vandenberg stole a ball and made a great pass to Maheu. Maheu raced down the left center side of the field and was able to pick up additional speed to get past the defender, who was running with her.
“Rose really threaded the needle well,” Schurig said. “Jenny didn’t panic, and she shot the ball just at the right time – not too early or too late.”
Maheu took the shot from about the 18-yard line and kicked it on the ground past the diving goalie into the right corner.
“That goal really was Rose’s,” Maheu said. “It has been a lot of fun playing with her. We work well together. I am going to miss playing with her.”
Maheu’s goal was only the second in postseason history for San Benito. And Vandenberg’s assist was the first assist in the postseason for the team.
Now Maheu can concentrate her efforts on her true love – softball.
Maheu, who was just coming off of an ankle injury, took herself out of the game for about 15 minutes early in the first half after a hard hit.
“It was a different kind of hurt than before so I just wanted to make sure before I played on it,” Maheu said.
Wildcat coach coach Jan Eric Nordmo said his team’s focus was to stop Vandenberg. However, it almost didn’t pay off.
“We changed our shape to try to be a little more defensive,” Nordmo said. “We tried to mark up Vandenberg. We weren’t as concerned about Maheu, but as it turned out we probably should have because she scored. They’re both great players.”
San Benito had more free kicks than Los Gatos had (15-10). In the second half, Amy Baxter took a free kick. But Wildcat goalie Jessica Sansevere caught the ball straight on and curled her arms around it, while not having to move.
Baxter took another free kick minutes later. This time, she kicked it on the ground, but the Los Gatos wall made the stop. The Wildcats took it down the field, and Ashley Dix scored on a pass from Elizabeth Magna to go up 2-0 in the 49th minute.
Just three minutes later, Los Gatos scored again on a ball kicked into the air and then bumped in to the goal by Carly Stavis. The final goal was scored by Dix, who turned around in the middle from about the 18 and shot past her defender into the net in the 57th minute.
“We knew we could score if we maintained possession long,” Nordmo said. “They got some good talent. They held their shape very well. They were disciplined and have a lot of intensity in the team. There was a moment in the first half, I thought they might be able to get a goal and turn the tide.”
Nordmo said he was surprised that the Balers kept the two-forward formation throughout the game even when the team was down.
“I thought they would have changed it up a little to try to find ways to get the forwards the ball,” Nordmo said. “But our defense was very solid, and it still would have been tough for them to get by.”
“Unless you play with it a lot, it doesn’t do you any good,” said Schurig about changing schemes. “If you move them up, they don’t give you that much more offense, and now you have weakened yourself in the middle somewhere.”
But without some of the talent Los Gatos had, the Balers had to find other ways to compensate.
“That team is a passing and finesse team,” Vandenberg said. “And we have a different style. We have to play good solid defense and play physical to stay with a team like this. We were the weaker team, so we had to be more intimidating.”
