The rain commenced pouring 10 minutes before Wednesday’s Central
Coast Section Division I girls soccer match between Hollister High
and Leland, muddying up the pitch for some intense soccer.
SAN JOSE – The rain commenced pouring 10 minutes before Wednesday’s Central Coast Section Division I girls soccer match between Hollister High and Leland, muddying up the pitch for some intense soccer. The underdog Balers, who knew they were going to be in tough against an experienced Chargers side, were ready.
Hollister, the last-seeded team in a 12-team field, left everything on the pitch in a 2-1 loss to No. 5-seeded Leland, the afternoon’s host.
They were tied 0-0 after the first 40 minutes despite being outshot 8-3. Baler assistant coach Ted Vandenberg smelled an upset and offered some inspiring words at halftime. He then asked the ultimate question: “Can we score?”
Vandenberg didn’t like the answer he got so he asked again. The Baler players concurred wholeheartedly, then jogged out onto the pitch.
Perhaps, the Baler players’ minds were on offense because the Chargers Ann Guinea quickly found herself all alone with the ball in the middle of the field. It was if the parting of the Red Sea had repeated itself some 2,500 years later.
Guinea, who was the Chargers’ best player in the field, drilled a shot past Balers goalie Mary Von Urff and the Balers had given up the cheapie they had done a fabulous job of avoiding for 40 grueling minutes.
“One of our defenders overcommitted, then their player got around our sweeper somehow,” said Vandenberg.
The Balers (15-5-2), to their credit, didn’t quit. They turned the pressure towards the Chargers’ goal. Eighteen minutes after Guinea had delivered, the Balers Jennifer ‘Rose’ Vandenberg was dragged down 17 yards to the right of the center of the Leland goal and about five yards from the end line. Vandenberg executed an up towards the pack. The referee, who had very good control of the match throughout, came out of nowhere to call an obstruction on a Chargers player in the box for pulling down a Baler player before the ball got there. The result was a direct kick about six yards away from Chargers goalie Sara Begas.
While Leland players were still gathering their senses, Vandenberg quickly booted the ball towards the goal. The ball skimmed off a Leland defender and into goal and the Balers had sincere life with a 1-1 tie.
If that was considered a break for the Balers, then the game-winning goal, which came just two minutes later, was a break for the Chargers as well.
Baler midfielder Michelle Sanchez, a real streetfighter on the pitch, was hustling to get a 50/50 ball about 40 yards from the Baler net as another Charger player approached. The Charger player pushed Sanchez away and gained control of the ball.
The referee, who clearly saw the push, said, “Play on!” Seconds later, the ball ended up in Guinea’s skilled feet center stage and 35 yards out. She stopped and sailed one over Von Urff’s head, a fabulous shot.
For the match, the Chargers outshot Hollister 17-6. But the Balers had some wicked opportunities throughout the match, but couldn’t get off a shot, mainly due to the play of Begas.
One of the best chances for the Balers came a few minutes in. Vandenberg was threatening on the left flank and had a defender and Begas committed. Fellow striker Jenny Maheu was alone on Vandenberg’s right. The ball squirted towards goal with no Charger left to defend the net.
The Balers were on the cusp of taking the initial lead. It was just a matter of who would score it – Vandenberg, who had kept he balance, or Maheu. It probably would have been Maheu, but the side judge called offside, claiming Maheu was behind the Chargers keeper before Vandenberg allegedly passed it.
“I didn’t pass it,” said Vandenberg. “It just came off my foot. It was the right call. It was offsides.”
Shortly after the Chargers took the lead, a direct kick from the right side by Vandenberg was headed backwards by Maheu, but the ball went right of goal. Later, as the minutes ticked down, Maheu went after a boot ahead from Ali Schmidt full tilt. Begas came out at maximum speed and foiled things, colliding hard with Maheu in the process.
The Chargers (12-5-4) put on a passing exhibition to salt the game away the final five minutes as the weary Balers were on the wrong end of a game of keep-away. Even so, it was a valiant effort by a Baler squad which hadn’t sent a girls soccer team to the section playoffs since 1995.
“I’m proud of these girls,” said Baler coach Michael Schurig. “They played hard all 80 minutes. We were still in it after the first half. If we had some more breaks go our way, we could have won this game. Mary Von Urff played great in goal.”
Von Urff did play well as did the Baler defense, led by sweeper Brianna Griffith. Stopper Amy Baxter entered the match 15 minutes in and headed several balls while marking one of the Chargers’ top offensive players. Baxter played the rest of the match, was all over the field and was a muddy mess afterwards.
It was the final match for six Baler seniors – Schmidt, Griffith, Vanessa Gowett, Allison Filice, Chanin-Rae Maka and defender Lorena Villagomez, a team captain.
“I’m proud to be captain of this team,” said Villagomez. “We took second place in league and had a great season. We gave Leland their money’s worth.”
And then some.
Baler bits: If it wasn’t so serious, it would have been funny. The lead referee had a ball rocketed directly at his head point-blank from six yards away by a Chargers player early in the match. It was extremely worrisome when he immediately fell to the ground. However, he continued after a few seconds. Send your videos to… – Gowett made some nice breaks on the wing to help the Balers’ cause. – Von Urff was credited with eight saves. – Baler starting midfielder Julie Broyer sat on the bench in street clothes with her right foot in a cast. Broyer tore a ligament at Notre Dame in the last T-CAL game of the year. – The rain stayed away for much of the second half, fortunately.
