Hollister girls soccer moves to semis

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In multiple postseason matches over the weekend, the Hollister High Girls soccer team and wrestler Cole Seymour kept their seasons alive. Meanwhile, the boys basketball team was eliminated in the first round of the postseason, as was the girls basketball team in the second round. 

For the girls soccer, backed by goals from the Rivera sisters, the Balers edged out Gunn High 2-1 to advance to the Central Coast Section Division 4 semifinals. 

The second seeded Balers will host third seeded Crystal High on Feb. 25 at 5 p.m. 

Senior midfielder Zamaya Rivera gave the Balers a 2-1 lead four minutes into the second half with a 25-yard shot that went over the Gunn goal keeper’s reach. 

“I had been getting some shots off and I knew that I needed to get a good one,” she said of her shot. “I felt like I had a lot of space there.”

She said scoring early in the second half allowed the team to continue focusing on possessing the ball. 

“We knew we had to calm ourselves down and we knew we had dominated the first half but we didn’t have it on the scoreboard,” she said. “It was tied and it shouldn’t have been like that.” 

The Balers first took the lead in the 25th minute of the first half after freshman Manaya Rivera took a through ball and dribbled around the goal keeper before shooting into the empty net. 

“I was like ‘I gotta make it,’” Rivera said of her decision to go after the ball with only the keeper to beat.

Head coach Amber Painter said it’s a play that the team ran in practice heading into the game.

“We’ve been working on those diagonal run-through balls and that’s how we capitalized on our goal today,” she said. “It was so cool to see.”

Eight minutes later, Gunn responded off a set piece with a header which, even though senior goal keeper Itzel Flores got her hands on the ball, wasn’t enough to keep it from crossing the goal line.

Zamaya said the team played a little frantic in the first half despite having possession of the ball. Gunn’s three scoring opportunities in the first half came off two set pieces and a through ball. They created another opportunity in the second half after a missed pass by the Balers’ defense.

“You could see our defenders putting everything out there to win the ball, get the ball cleared out,” she said. “They did their job and they limited the other team to almost nothing.”

Wrestling

Hollister High sent 18 wrestlers to the Masters Tournament which took place in Watsonville and though several were close to qualifying for the state championships, only Cole Seymour will represent the Balers in Bakersfield starting Feb. 26.

Seymour, who placed second in the 165 lbs class in the Masters Tournament, will be competing in his second state championships. In 2025, he finished the state tournament with a 1-2 record.

Coach Steven Salcedo said the Balers competed against older and more experienced wrestlers.

“Our section is really tough,” he said. “Our kids wrestled hard.”

The Balers’ top finishers were senior Gisselle Ruiz in 5th place at 145 lbs and freshman Eliana Salcedo in 6th place at 115 lbs. 

Basketball

The 10th seeded girls lost in the second round to seventh seeded Fremont High with a score of 23-22.

The Balers beat Santa Teresa High 75-40 on Feb. 20 in Hollister behind 22 points from junior guard Jadah Gonzalez and 13 points from senior forward Madelyn Davis.

The unseeded boys basketball team was unable to make up a first half 20-point deficit in its loss to Alisal High with a score of 55-44. 

BenitoLink thanks our underwriter, Hollister Rotary, for helping expand the sports coverage around San Benito County. Rotary is a nonprofit organization that conducts humanitarian projects, encourages high ethical standards, and works toward world understanding. All editorial decisions are made by BenitoLink.