‘Balers Lead Early; Gilroy Scores in Final Seconds of Each
Half
Gilroy – When San Benito boys soccer coach Juan Carlos Martinez saw the newly-painted soccer lines on the field at Andy Hardin Stadium Thursday afternoon, he knew there was a problem.
“I saw it and I thought, ‘Oh no! This is too short!'” Martinez said.
Because the team doesn’t usually play at the stadium, the lines were painted fresh. But the dimensions were wrong and the finished field was too narrow by 20 yards.
The Tri-County Athletic League rivalry matchup with Gilroy went on as scheduled, but little did the ‘Balers know that the “problem” would end up helping the Mustangs.
Gilroy used strong-armed defender Kevin Grove to do throw-ins on the short field, using the distance he could get on his throws to their advantage.
It turned out to be a big advantage that led to both Gilroy goals in the Mustangs’ 2-1 victory, including the game-winner scored in the final 15 seconds.
The sophomore defender lofted the ball toward the mouth of the San Benito goal, where Gilroy’s Oscar Zuniga went up for a header against San Benito goalie Randall Lopez. The ball ricocheted off Zuniga’s head to the feet of teammate Jose Pineda. Pineda redirected the ball into the wide-open goal to win the game.
“It was thrilling in the sense that we pulled out a victory with seconds remaining in the game, but also upsetting,” said Gilroy head coach Armando Padilla, who said Gilroy had trouble finishing on goals despite controlling the ball for most of the game.
“We let teams not as strong as we are compete with us,” Padilla said. “It’s just been kind of the story of our season.”
San Benito’s only goal of the game came with 10 minutes to play in the first half. As two Gilroy defenders converged on him, Christian Mercado passed off to forward Eddie Trujillo, who capitalized on a one-on-one opportunity with the Mustangs’ goalie.
Gilroy tied it up at 1-1 with 30 seconds to play in the half. On another throw-in, Grove found Noel Vera in the box and he headed the ball in far post for the goal.
“(Vera) is a tall kid so it’s really easy for him to win balls in the air,” Padilla said.
The win puts Gilroy at 8-5-2 overall and 6-2 in TCAL heading into its next game, a re-match with league-leader Live Oak Saturday at noon. The loss puts San Benito at 3-8-1 overall and 1-6-1 in league.
The last time the Mustangs and Acorns met at Live Oak, Gilroy battled to a 1-1 tie at halftime. In the second half, Grove was forced to leave the game for five minutes after cutting his head open in a collision. Live Oak ended up winning 3-1.
“We’re going to have to come out with a lot more intensity (to beat Live Oak),” Grove said. “The midfielders have to step up and finish and the defense has to stay strong. No mistakes.”
The game is crucial for the Mustangs, who must finish in the top two in league to get an automatic bid to the Central Coast Section playoffs. Right now, Gilroy (4-2) is in third place behind North Salinas (5-1-1) and the Acorns (6-0-1).
“We’ll go in tomorrow and try to fix some things,” Padilla said.
Ana Patejdl covers sports for South Valley Newspapers. She can be reached at ap******@gi************.com.
