Taylor Comeau races for a loose ball in Los Gatos' semifinal win over Gilroy
Los Gatos will battle Presentation Saturday at 11 a.m. for the CCS field hockey championship at St. Francis High School.
With two first-half goals from Caitlyn Denham, Los Gatos won the battle of unbeaten teams 2-0 over Gilroy Tuesday night under drizzly skies at St. Francis. In the other semifinal game, Presentation got a goal in overtime to edge Mitty 1-0.
It will be the third meeting of the season between Los Gatos and Presentation. In the first meeting, the teams battled to a 1-1 tie. In the rematch, Los Gatos pounded the Panthers 6-1. Los Gatos is now 20-0-1 on the season.
“The girls played a great game,” said an exhausted coach Henry Reyes following the game. “Gilroy is a very good team, but the girls did everything they needed to do to win. They played their guts out.”
Los Gatos controlled the action from the outset, maintaining field position for most of the first half. Using the speed of junior forward Taylor Comeau, Los Gatos kept the ball down in Gilroy’s end most of the first half and got two goals from Denham to lead 2-0 at the intermission.
Gilroy, which entered the game with a perfect 20-0 record, controlled the action for most of the second half, but the Mustangs could not get the ball past senior goalie Megan Long. Gilroy’s best chance came late in the game on a breakaway, but Long raced well out of the box and slid into the ball, knocking it away while also knocking down the Gilroy attacker.
Los Gatos will be without the services of the talented Comeau for Saturday’s championship game, who will be attending tryouts for a national club soccer team that day.
The Wildcats also lost forward Julie Wiederhold during the game when she was struck in the face with a stick, opening a gash on her forehead that required stitches. Wiederhold left the game and did not return.
In the 10 years of this decade, Los Gatos has advanced to the CCS field hockey finals seven times, winning three CCS championships. Los Gatos won in 2008, 2003, and 2002.
Los Gatos opened CCS action with a 3-1 victory over Cupertino is the quarterfinals. Junior Noel Painter, one of two junior captains along with Natalie Gibbens, scored the first goal four minutes into the game off an assist from Loree Lewis.
Junior Madeline Herder gave Los Gatos a 2-0 lead late in the first half with a goal off assists from Lewis and Gibbens. With only 25 seconds left in the half, Herder ripped a hot shot past the Pioneers’ keeper to push the lead to 2-0.
After Cupertino scored to make it 2-1, Los Gatos iced the game when Comeau fired a shot into the middle of the box and junior Jacquie Nguyen got a stick on the ball and deflected it home.
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