GONZALES — For the first time in 17 years, the Gonzales High School boys’ soccer team has won a Central Coast Section divisional title.
The Spartans secured the CCS Division IV championship on Saturday as they defeated the Pioneer Mustangs of San Jose by a 2-1 score at Everett Alvarez High School in Salinas.
Gonzales began the playoffs with a 3-1 win over King City in the quarterfinals on Feb. 22 and a 2-0 shutout against Monterey on Feb. 26, followed by the title-clinching victory over Pioneer on March 1.
The championship this season has special meaning to Gonzales head coach Miguel Vidauri, as he was a member of the 2006-07 CCS Division II champions, and now has coached his alma mater to a CCS title.
“That we were able to win CCS means a lot to our team, former coaches, the community and Gonzales alumni,” Vidauri said. “Our goal at the start of the season was to win league and then see how well we could do in the playoffs. Now we have the opportunity to keep playing in the Northern California championships this upcoming week.”
Gonzales earned the right to play in the CCS finals after beating the Monterey High Toreadores in a game where the Spartans could have been on the losing end if not for exceptional defense and a little luck. Monterey, the No. 3 seed in Division IV, came in hammering the ball, but unfortunately for them, they had shots hit the goalpost, fly over the goalpost or stopped by Spartan goalie Luis Cabada.
In the Monterey game, Cabada came up with eight saves to keep the Toreadores off the scoreboard. Offensively for Gonzales, midfielder Omar Gonzalez gave the Spartans a 1-0 lead as his freekick made it by the Monterey defense. In the second half, leading scorer Jorge Uribe scored off an assist from Gonzalez to end the scoring at 2-0.
In the game with No. 8 seed Pioneer on Saturday, the Spartans took a 1-0 lead as Ulysses Mancillas crossed the ball to Uribe, who headed the ball by the Mustang defense. With just a few minutes to play in the first half, Pioneer scored a goal that just got by Cabada, and the teams went into intermission tied at 1-1.
In the middle of the second half, Mancillas had the ball on the right side of the penalty area and fired a pass to Uribe, who used a scissor kick to get the ball by the Mustang goalie for a 2-1 advantage for the Spartans.
Cabada and the rest of his teammates then went into a bend but don’t break defensive mode that ran time off the clock and denied Pioneer a chance to attempt a game-tying goal.
“We just wanted to keep the ball and not concede a goal,” Cabada said. “I was taking as much time as I could when the ball would come to me, trying to kill as much time as possible. If we were in trouble we would just kick the ball as far up the field as we could.”
The Mustangs won the coin toss and had chosen to have the wind at their back in the second half, but the Spartan defense was up to the task as they controlled the soccer ball in the closing minutes of the contest. Even leading scorer Uribe fell back to aid his team defensively.
“I just wanted to stay calm and compose our team,” Uribe said. “Everyone contributed when we needed them, especially with the clock on our side. Our coach mentioned the fact that he was on the last CCS championship to us all the time. We were just barely coming into this world the last time Gonzales won the championship. It took a while to get another title, but we are really happy about it.”
Uribe finished the game with two goals and Mancillas was credited with two goals for the game. Uribe scored a total of 25 goals this season.
Distributing the ball to teammates was a strength of the Spartans, as Jose Camacho had 11 assists, Uribe added 10 assists and Mancillas finished the season with seven assists and scored six goals.
After the final whistle blew, Vidauri was given a cold ice shower in celebration as players dumped two large water coolers on their head coach.
The Spartans had a huge turnout at the game, with families and fans filling the home side of the Alvarez bleachers while many others stood along the walkway for a view of the game. Most fans in attendance cheered on the Spartans during the awards presentation, when a winning coaches plaque was presented to Coach Vidauri by Gonzales Athletic Director Margie Daniels.
On Sunday, the Spartans were seeded No. 1 in the California Interscholastic Federation’s (CIF) NorCal Regional Soccer Championships for Division IV. They played Tuesday against the No. 8 seed Summerville Bears of Tuolumne at Rabobank Stadium in Salinas, which has been the temporary home of the Spartans for nearly two years.
Gonzales beat Summerville by a score of 3-1, sending them to the semifinals Thursday night against No. 5 Milpitas. The game, also taking place at Rabobank Stadium, begins at 5 p.m.
If the Spartans win again, it would place them in Saturday’s championship finals. NorCal is a single-elimination tournament.
Gonzales entered the tournament with a 18-3-2 overall record and won Pacific Coast Athletic League’s Cypress Division with a 11-1 league record.
