San Benito beat Salinas 3-0 Friday
Hollister
The San Benito girls soccer team earned the 11-seed and will face No. 6 Woodside Wednesday in the first round of the Central Coast Section Division I playoffs.
After wrapping up their regular season Friday with a 3-0 win against Salinas, the Lady ‘Balers finished with an 11-5-3 record and will make their second straight appearance to the CCS playoffs.
Woodside, who finished with a 16-4-2 record, will return to the year-end tournament after missing the playoffs last year.
“A very, very good team,” coach Mike Schurig said of Woodside.
WIth a pair of top-notch goalies, one of whom made a verbal commitment to UCLA last year, Woodside outscored their opponents by a 45-8 margin this season, Schurig said.
Woodside took third place in the Peninsula Athletic League – Bay Division, but Schurig is hoping last year’s playoff experience will pay off for San Benito.
“Some of the girls are the same from last year, so for them, they’ve already felt it,” Schurig said. “Now they’ve gotten that underneath their belt. They know the pressure and the excitement and I think it’ll be good for them.”
San Benito, listed as a 12-seed last year, lost 4-2 to Leigh in the first round. Woodside hasn’t qualified for the CCS playoffs since 2006, when they lost to Monta Vista 3-0 in the opening round.
The winner of Wednesday’s contest will face No. 3 Monta Vista (10-4-5) on Saturday.
On Friday, the Lady ‘Balers finished their season on a winning note with their triumph over the visiting Cowboys.
Friday’s game gave the Lady ‘Balers a chance to tweak their offense here and there, and Schurig decided to mix up the attack and begin the game with three forwards.
“The difference was that we concentrated [Thursday] on finishing and making sure we’re in the right position,” Schurig said.
The 4-3-3 offense took a little getting use to, however, as Salinas out-shot San Benito 5-1 through the first 10 minutes of play.
It didn’t last long, though, as Janessa Gillies, who delivered a pair of assists and a score Friday, had her pass deflected to the outside where freshman Daniela Ocampo scored in the 18th minute.
Twenty minutes later, in the 38th minute, Gillies hooked up with Sara Yamasaki to give the Lady ‘Balers a 2-0 lead at the break.
“A beautiful pass,” Schurig said. “She passed back toward the [penalty kick] mark and Sara one-touched it into the goal.”
Gillies then scored one of her own after Salinas was called for a hand-ball inside the box. The San Benito senior pocketed the PK into the left side of the net at the 50th minute to make it 3-nil.
‘Baler keeper Kelli Shingai played the first half in net and made five saves, while Emily Key preserved the shutout in the second half with a pair of saves. Despite the three-goal victory for San Benito, Salinas out-shot the Lady ‘Balers in the game, 14-13.
Defensively, it is San Benito’s fifth shutout this year, and their fourth in a row. The last time the Lady ‘Balers allowed a goal was against Gilroy on Jan. 28.
San Benito finishes their regular season with a 6-3-3 record in the TCAL.
“All we need to do is play some good, solid ball,” Schurig said. “We have the talent. We have the skills. Let’s make it happen.”
