Tag: soccer

It’s often said that there is no love quite as fierce, pure or deep as a mother’s love for her child. On Feb. 16,...

Two years ago, the Hollister Strikers club soccer team wasn’t well known outside of San Benito County. “We were a bunch of nobodies,” Strikers coach...

Despite having to make lineup changes to account for the numerous injuries sustained throughout the season, the San Benito High girls soccer team has maintained a high level of play. The Haybalers entered the week with a 3-1-1 record in the Monterey Bay League’s Gabilan Division, tied for first place with Christopher and Gilroy.

The Anzar High girls soccer team started off the season with 23 girls in its program. But that number dwindled to 17 a month in to its current number of 14. Due to some absences last week, the Hawks only had 11 players available in a 1-1 tie with York on Jan. 11.

With eight goals in nine matches entering this week’s play, Jonathan Garcia has already surpassed his output from last season. Although Garcia has made improvements in his game from a physical standpoint, the San Benito High senior striker said a renewed mindset has boosted his play.

In the first several minutes of every match, Manny Ceja measures up his defender in a couple of different ways. A student of the game, the San Benito High junior forward has become a potent goal-scorer by being aware of his surroundings and sizing up opponents.

Down to stoppage time, the San Benito High girls soccer team looked as if it would have to be relegated to a draw with visiting Sobrato in their non-league contest on Dec. 21. It would’ve been a tough pill to swallow given the fact that the Haybalers had controlled the run of play, dominating the possession for long stretches.

The San Benito High girls soccer team is coming off arguably its best season in program history, winning its first-ever Central Coast Section playoff game (not counting a forfeit victory it received four years ago). The Haybalers were expected to return up to nine starters this season, a huge haul that would’ve made them the odds-on favorite to win the Monterey Bay League’s Gabilan Division and make a deep run in the postseason.

The Nov. 18, 2002 cover of Sports Illustrated featured an iconic shot of Brian Brohm, who at the time was a star junior quarterback at Trinity High in Kentucky. The subtitle of the cover story, “Inside the changing world of our young athletes,” was the first of a four-part series that detailed a semi-revolution in high school sports, where the top athletes started specializing in one sport rather than play multiple ones.

This year’s San Benito High girls soccer team could make the case it was the best team in school history. The Haybalers won their first-ever Central Coast Section playoff game (not counting a forfeit victory against Palo Alto three years ago) before falling to Presentation 4-0 in a Division I quarterfinal on Feb. 27.