El Capitan soccer comes up empty in first-place battle

Coaches aren’t really fans of teachable moments.

The opportunity usually comes when something unfortunate happens to their team. The only real caveat is when a coach at least has time to try and rectify the scenario.

That’s the path El Capitan High School girls soccer coach Christina Schiewek will try to take after Wednesday afternoon’s 2-0 loss to Central Valley.

A win and the Gauchos would have been in the driver’s seat to the Western Athletic Conference title with one game to play. El Capitan already defeated the Hawks 2-1 in Ceres at the beginning of April. Much more was on the line this time, however, and Schiewek’s young squad seemed to get caught up in the moment.

Still, Schiewek would rather such a hiccup happen now than in the Gauchos’ first-ever playoff game.

“It wasn’t our game from the very beginning,” Schiewek said. “We allowed them to dictate it, and then we played right into what they wanted to do. We had no possession. We did a lot of chasing and just kicking, things we haven’t done since the start of the season.

“Sometimes when things are going well, you need a reminder that you have to keep working hard. Even coaches get comfortable when you’re playing well. Hopefully, we can use this to get ourselves going into the playoffs.”

El Capitan (10-8-1, 8-2-1 WAC) can still lock up second place and the playoff spot that comes with it with a victory over Patterson next week.

Schiewek will be looking for her team to come out less timid. After dictating games to the rest of the league while rising to the top of the standings the last month, the Gauchos opened the game on their heels.

Central Valley (16-1, 9-1) took advantage, putting constant first-half pressure on El Cap’s back line and exploiting the offside trap it was playing. That trap was exposed 16 minutes into the match when the Hawks played a quick free quick to Yesinia Zuniga on the right wing.

The freshman striker looked to be a step ahead of the play, but the referee waived her on. Zuniga cut back into the inside of the field and then let fly a shot into the upper 90 of the far post.

Off their game, the Gauchos still managed to keep the deficit 1-0 at the break. Schiewek hoped an impassioned halftime speech and a few tactical changes would turn things around.

El Capitan seemed to respond in the opening five minutes of the second half. The Gauchos upped their energy and quickly produced a flurry of shots. Central Valley stood strong against the wave, however, and made sure none of the sequence ended up on goalkeeper Emily Lopez (three saves) in the net.

“We’re usually really on top of things and come out with a lot of pressure,” midfielder Kristiana Montiel said. “I think we all knew this was a big game and we panicked a little bit. Coach calmed things down at halftime, and we knew one goal wasn’t a big deal.

“We started the second half strong, but as soon as the ball went back the other way, we seemed to let right back down.”

El Cap didn’t force Lopez to make any saves in the second half, and Zuniga put away the game in the 68th minute when she caught Gauchos keeper Kyla Yang off her line. She half-volleyed a ball from about 40 yards out over Yang.

This story was originally published April 28, 2016 at 11:02 AM with the headline "El Capitan soccer comes up empty in first-place battle."