Grasping to a narrow one-goal lead at halftime, the Gavilan men's soccer team opened up the flood gates in the second half on Tuesday and proceeded to rout host Mission College in Santa Clara by a final score of 6-1.
"That was nice," coach Albert Marques said.
The five-goal cushion was also a nice way to end the preseason for the Rams, which will open Coast Conference play on Friday at home to Cabrillo College.
Gavilan is 4-2 overall this season.
"Cabrillo was a semifinalist at state last year," Marques said. "This was a great team performance. Hopefully, it carries over to Friday. We'll see."
Armando Hernandez pocketed the first goal of the game on an assist from Erick Erosa to put the Rams up 1-0 at the break.
Marques said the first half was played well by his Gavilan team, with approximately 10 shots on net and frequent opportunities to score. But up by just a single score at halftime led to a "serious conversation" during the timeout.
"We're a good team but we're a half-step from being a really, really good team," said Marques, who delivered a "fire and brimstone speech" to ignite his players at the break. "We need to play at what our abilities are, not at what the other team is at. We start league on Friday and play needs to be higher."
The second half was met with plenty of fury as the Rams opened up a clinic, scoring five goals within the first 25 minutes of play.
Hernandez scored his second goal of the day, while Joel Gutierrez, Hector Salgado, Lupe Diaz and Fabian Iglesias each found the back of the net as well.
Marques called it perhaps the best he's seen Gavilan play in the last two years.
"Solid passing. Good communication," he said. "They came out firing away. It was a great show in the second half."
The Rams will now look to do the same Friday when Cabrillo comes to Gilroy. Kick-off is at 4 p.m.
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San Benito Score: Rodeo and youth baseball
San Benito Score: Rodeo and youth baseball
