SALINAS VALLEY — With wins last Saturday, the Gonzales and Greenfield boys’ soccer teams will be playing Wednesday night in the Central Coast Section Division IV semifinals.
In the first round of Division IV playoffs, the Spartans defeated South Monterey County rival King City by a 3-1 score at Rabobank Stadium in Salinas, and the Bruins beat visiting Lincoln, 2-1, to advance to the semifinals.
On Wednesday, Gonzales (No. 2 seed) will host No. 3 seed Monterey, who beat No. 6 seed Salinas, 3-1, in penalty kicks after a 1-1 score in regulation. The Bruins (No. 4 seed) will face No. 8 seed Pioneer, who claimed a 5-4 win in penalty kicks against No. 1 seed Palma.
Game times for Wednesday’s semifinals are 5 p.m. for the Pioneer-at-Greenfield game and 7 p.m. for the Gonzales vs. Monterey game at Rabobank Stadium.
In the Spartans’ game against King City on Feb. 22, Jorge Uribe scored the first goal at the 5:56 mark of the first half off an assist by Jose Camacho. With less than two minutes left in the first half, Uribe assisted on a goal by Ulisses Mancillas.
King City came out fired up in the second half and scored on a penalty kick by Jesus Quintana. Gonzales did not take too much time responding to the Mustang goal as Miguel Ibarra scored from in front of the net off an assist by Uribe, as the Spartans took a 3-1 lead.
“We came out ready to play in the first half to take a two-goal lead,” said Gonzales head coach Miguel Vidauri. “Defensively, we held King City to just a couple of shot attempts in the first half.”
King City head coach Jaime Cortes feels the Spartans played hard and really wanted to win the game.
“We had to make a few adjustments as we were missing our center midfielder,” Cortes said. “Usually missing one player doesn’t make a difference, but in this game it did. Gonzales came out strong and kept up that level of play.”
Against Lincoln on Feb. 22 at home, the Bruins took a 2-0 first half lead with a goal by Alex Sanchez in the first few minutes and a goal by Braulia Zuniga late in the first half. Joaquin Velasquez assisted on both goals. Lincoln scored its only goal in the middle of the second half.
Greenfield head coach Jose Sanchez was pleased with his team’s efforts this season and in the Lincoln game. He said he is hopeful they can do well against Pioneer and advance into the finals.
“A Gonzales-against-Greenfield game in the CCS finals would be good,” Sanchez said. “To get there, we have to beat Pioneer, and I have heard they are a strong team. Gonzales will also need to beat Monterey.”
