GILROY—There’s been a lot of changes on the Gavilan soccer team over the offseason, but it has its eyes set on the future.
The Rams hired Ricardo Espinosa as the new head coach in May and he was tasked with replacing the six sophomores that graduated. Espinosa, who is also the head coach at Christopher, brought Gilroy High’s Armando Padilla on as his assistant who is fresh off a Central Coast Section championship with the Mustangs. They’re also joined by second year assistant Vince Monroy who is head coach at St. Francis High School in Watsonville. The late hire meant a shortened recruiting season and consequently a smaller than normal squad, but Espinosa is seeing the silver lining.
“We have so much potential because we have three high school head coaches at Christopher, Gilroy and at St. Francis,” he said. “It gives us really good recruiting in the future.”
The Rams are expecting to have around 15 players on their roster and will be mostly freshman. The smaller team, Espinosa said, allows the coaches to focus on improving the individual’s skill sets which they hope will pay off in the long run. However Gavilan is hoping that one of its fresh faces, Lachie Moye who hails from New South Wales, Australia, will make an impact this year.
“We’re looking forward to big things from him,” Espinosa said. “He’s a very, very good technical player.”
Moye said he’s loving his experience with the Rams so far, though there has been some growing pains.
“It’s a bit different than back home. You’re training a lot more, you’ve got five days a week,” Moye said. “It’s a lot more fitness. It’s good to play with people from different nationalities—I’ve learned a bit of Spanish.”
But there is some familiarity on the Rams roster, too. Angel Trejo will provide some experience in goal as a second year player while Josue Salgado adds experience at midfield. Salgado has also been named a captain and Espinosa said he’s expecting him to provide leadership on the field.
Salgado said he’s ready for the challenge and wants to rebound from last year’s 5-15 season. Though last year’s squad was larger, Salgado said it lacked chemistry which led to a less than stellar performance on the field.
“Last year we had good players, but we weren’t able to play together,” he said. “We have more heart this year and more will and I think we’ll do better.”
Gavilan will kick off its season with its Alumni Game scrimmage at 4 p.m. today at home. The Rams will play their season opener at 4 p.m. Aug. 27 against Monterey Peninsula College at home. They have a tough season ahead of them, but remain hopeful.
“It’s kind of a small team in numbers, but the few players we do have out here are quality,” Salgado said. “Maybe we can surprise some big teams.”
