San Benito wins 17-5
Gilroy – A fast start gave San Benito an opportunity to substitute liberally and start preparations for the Tri-County Athletic League tournament.
James Shafer scored 17 seconds into the match and the Haybalers scored nine unanswered goals Thursday in a 17-5 win over host Gilroy.
“The main thing is it showed us we could play as a team and shows us we can accomplish the stuff we’ve been working on all season,” said Dave Smith, whose five goals led San Benito (13-7 overall, 8-0 in TCAL).
Shafer scored again 1:06 into the game and the ‘Balers led 5-0 after the first period. San Benito extended the lead to 9-0 before the Mustang’s Austin Gubrud scored twice to cut the lead to seven at halftime.
GHS (5-7 overall, 2-6 TCAL) got no closer than seven in the second half as San Benito completed an unbeaten regular season.
“This is the first step,” Smith said. “We’ve been second two years in a row. We want to keep it going.”
For the ‘Balers, who lost by one point twice to Live Oak last year – during the regular season and league tournament – it put them in a good frame of mind heading into next week’s playoff matches Friday against Woodside and Harbor at Monta Vista.
“We were trying some strange stuff as we look ahead,” San Benito coach Tom Agan said. “We were able to do a lot of subbing. When we play like a team, we’re fine.”
Eight different swimmers scored goals for San Benito. Rory Block and Shafer had three goals each. Steve Larson scored twice, and Matt Morrison, Jordan Shafer, Adam Rianda and Blane Curtis had one goal apiece. Rianda also had two assists.
GHS, meanwhile, also finished its TCAL regular-season schedule and enters the playoffs next week. While the Mustangs dug themselves an early hole, they were able to flash some offense during the final 2:20 of the first half and in the third quarter.
Gubrud had three goals and an assist. Daniel Shields and Eric Boe had the other Mustangs’ goals.
“They handle the ball well,” GHS coach Tom Clark said of the ‘Balers. “And they’re really fast. They’re all good swimmers, which is the one thing we lack. We have good ballhandlers, but not swimmers like we had in the past. I’m happy with the job the guys did in the second half. They worked hard.”
