SALINAS VALLEY — While Greenfield and Gonzales high schools may play in different divisions in the Pacific Coast Athletic League, the rivalry is still serious when the two boys’ soccer teams take the field.
Last Friday the Gonzales Spartans defeated the host Greenfield Bruins by a 3-1 score to improve to 3-1 to start the season.
“We took a 2-0 lead late in the first half on goals by Edgar Santiago,” said Gonzales head coach Miguel Vidauri. “Emmanuel Mauro put the icing on the cake after his goal with 10 minutes left in the game, sealing the victory. Standouts on offense for this week have been Edgar Santiago, Jose Camacho and Ulisses Mancillas. Defensively, Damian Garcia, Luis Cabada, Matthew Arreola, Jorge Uribe and Jorge Lara have stood out.”
Last Monday the Spartans defeated the King City Mustangs at home by a 2-1 score. Mauro and Santiago scored the Gonzales goals.
The Mustangs are 0-4 so far this season, and played Wednesday night at Alisal — after press deadlines — and will then host Templeton on Dec. 13.
Gonzales continued a busy week with a 3-0 shutout loss in Salinas against the Alisal Trojans. The Spartans are 3-1-0 and played Tuesday at Everett Alvarez and will play at Rancho San Juan on Thursday in Salinas.
In the Friday game with Gonzales, Greenfield’s Chris Castro scored late in the first half on an assist from Jesus Arroyo. On Nov. 29, the Bruins lost 4-1 against Archbishop Mitty in San Jose. Castro scored the Greenfield goal with an assist by Arroyo.
Greenfield head coach Manny Barron felt the Bruins played well in the losses to Gonzales and Archbishop Mitty.
“We couldn’t finish as we had opportunities,” Barron said. “Our goalie was knocked out with a concussion in the Mitty game and was unable to suit up against Gonzales. That was a big problem for us. Gonzales has very tough and talented players, and they came ready to play. My guys underestimated them and paid for it. Sometimes you need to get punched in the mouth to get grounded. Alex Sanchez and Larry Picazo played well for us against Gonzales.”
Greenfield is now 2-2 for the pre-season and played Tuesday in Salinas against the Palma Chieftains.
Soledad High is 1-1-0 at the start of pre-season play after a 1-1 tie against Half Moon Bay last Wednesday, followed by a 4-1 win over Ceiba at Soledad last Friday night.
Jason Rico scored the goal against Half Moon Bay on an assist by Osbaldo Puentes. Diego Guillen, David Chavez, Tristan Salvador and Jesse Argueta scored against Cieba. Assists were provided by Salvador and Chavez.
The Soledad Aztecs hosted Sobrato on Wednesday with games slated for 5 and 6:45 p.m.
“Our JV teams were supposed to play the Watsonville JV’s but they did not show up,” said Soledad varsity head coach Genaro Espinoza. “We lost 2-1 against Half Moon Bay.”
Girls’ soccer
In the girls’ soccer games last week, the Lady Aztecs improved to 3-1 with a 6-1 home win over Gonzales last Tuesday, and a 2-0 shutout last Thursday at home against the Gilroy Mustangs.
In the win over Gonzales, Sophia Martel scored three goals and handed out three assists. Scoring single goals were Jennifer Troncoso, Myrin Amilpa and Giselle Zepeda. Martel and Belen Diaz score single goals against Gilroy.
“The Gilroy game was a very interesting and intense game,” said Soledad head coach Victor Garcia. “We knew that Gilroy was going to be a tough opponent. Annalise Rios was a standout on offense and always kept running down the field to recover soccer balls and filter them to our forwards or wingers. Sophia Martel played at forward and gave us the lead goal and always fought for 50/50 balls. Belen Diaz played center back and was always marking the Gilroy players not letting them turn or take a shot. She scored a free-kick to give us the 2-0 lead.”
The Soledad JVs defeated Gonzales by a 11-0 score and beat Gilroy, 6-1. Soledad continues a tough week with away games at Greenfield, Andrew Hill and Monterey.
Gonzales (2-1) received a goal by Janelle Garcia in the loss to the Lady Aztecs and scored a pair of goals in Salinas last Thursday against the Notre Dame Spirits.
“Even though we lost to Soledad, it was a good game for our girls against a good team,” said Gonzales head coach Jose Tejeda. “Janelle Garcia scored a goal in the that game and two against Notre Dame off assists by Alessandra Tejeda. Areli Calderon-Mancera made nine saves.”
Gonzales played at North Salinas on Monday, and traveled to the Monterey Peninsula on Wednesday for a contest against the Santa Catalina Cougars.
The King City girls are 1-3 and finished last week with a 1-0 setback against Alisal, a 5-1 loss to the Carmel Padres and a 2-1 win on Saturday against Marina. The Lady Mustangs played Tuesday at Harbor and will host Greenfield on Thursday.
Greenfield is 1-1 for the season and defeated Coast Union 3-0 last Friday and lost last Thursday by a 2-1 score to North Salinas. Lizbeth Benitez scored the goal against the North Salinas Vikings. The Lady Bruins played at Soledad on Monday, King City on Thursday and at Santa Catalina on Friday.
