They’re the best girls soccer team ever assembled at Hollister
High, these 2002-03 Balers.
They’re the best girls soccer team ever assembled at Hollister High, these 2002-03 Balers.
Michael Schurig’s club clinched a berth in the Central Coast Section playoffs with a 10-2 dismantling of visiting Salinas, coupled with Live Oak’s convincing 5-1 win at home over Notre Dame on Friday.
Hollister has sent a girls soccer team to CCS just once, and that was in 1995.
Hollister (14-4-2, 7-1-1 Tri-County Athletic League) can’t be caught by third-place Notre Dame (11-6, 6-3) even if the Balers lose their final regular-season Wednesday vs. the Spirits at the Salinas Sports Complex. The top two teams in the T-CAL advance to the CCS playoffs.
Both the Balers and Acorns will play in Division I. The Spirits have a decent shot at an at-large bid for Division III, especially if they can defeat Hollister Wednesday.
Because Friday’s match with the Cowboys kicked off at 5:30 p.m., Schurig had received word that the Balers were in with a victory over the Cowboys (2-10-2, 2-7) who are second-to-last ahead of Gilroy.
“I didn’t tell the girls until after the match,” said Schurig. “I wanted them focused on what we had to do. There was a celebration and a feeling of joy amongst the team when they knew they’d be going to CCS. But now they’re focused on beating Notre Dame. A win could help us in our seeding and a loss to Notre Dame could hurt us.”
Against the Cowboys, Jenny Maheu had three goals while Jenny Vandenberg had two goals and an assist. For the year, Vandenberg has a remarkable 53 goals and 19 assists. In league she has 21 goals and seven assists. Maheu has 36 goals for the season with 13 assists. In league, Maheu has 14 goals and five assists.
The rapidly improving Michelle Sanchez had two more goals, giving her five during league play. She also had an assist. Other goals were scored by Vanessa Gowett, Allison Filice and Allison Schmidt. Gowett added an assist.
There is also a possibility that talented stopper Amy Baxter, who now has a brace on her injured knee, could see some spot duty in Wednesday’s match with Notre Dame. Baxter hasn’t played since late December.
“We have to wait and see,” said Schurig. “It would be nice to have her for CCS.”
The CCS pairings will be determined Saturday at 1 p.m.
