Gilroy hands San Benito second TCAL defeat
Gilroy – With more than 20 goals sitting on the bench, San Benito knew it wasn’t well-suited for Saturday’s girls soccer showdown at Gilroy.
The first-place Haybalers, playing without Sophie Coelho and her team-leading 14 goals and JC Clayton and her second-best total of seven, lacked offensive firepower and lost 3-0 to the Mustangs.
“We knew going in it was going to be a tough game,” said San Benito coach Mike Schurig. “I wasn’t too worried about it. I was hoping to play great defense but our physical tiredness showed.”
Coelho, the second-leading scorer in the Tri-County Athletic League, missed the entire game with strep throat and an ear infection, and illness limited Clayton to five minutes of action before she had to come out.
Brittany Huth, the ‘Balers next best scorer with five goals on the year, was limited by injury and illness and several other players were stricken by illness and not operating at 100 percent.
All of that along with San Benito playing in its third game in five days – something Gilroy was also facing – spelled a bad scenario for the ‘Balers.
“As beat up as we were, I’m happy it wasn’t a blowout,” Schurig said of the contest which was scoreless until late in the first half and 1-0 until the 68h minute. “(Goalkeeper) Emily Key (11 saves) definitely kept the game close.”
Gilroy used its ball-control style of play to prevent San Benito from mounting an attack. In the 30th minute, the Mustangs made the only offensive push they would need.
Nubia Diaz de Leon fed a pass to Amanda Bruce in the circle and Bruce fired a shot to the left of Key’s reach and into the net.
The ‘Balers failed to get off a shot in the first half and were limited again in the second half, but their defense kept the game within a goal.
Gilroy finally put it out of reach when Bruce fed Ariane Vera for a goal with 13 minutes left and Kristi Figueroa scored in the 72nd minute to seal it.
“We felt we let them get away with a tie last game,” Mustangs coach Jose Hernandez said of the 2-2 tie in the team’s first matchup. “It wasn’t going to happen again.”
The loss drops San Benito (10-4-2, 5-2-1) into a tie for first place with North Salinas (9-4-2, 5-2-1), which beat Alvarez 6-0 on Saturday.
The ‘Balers host Alvarez at 6pm today and travel to face North Salinas at 3:30pm Thursday in a showdown that may decide the league title.
“We need to make sure we’re 100 percent. That’s definitely one of our must-win games,” Schurig said of the showdown with the Vikings.
