Gaels one win from repeat

“With every breath I take I think of him,” Bishop Gorman boys soccer coach Nick Arbelaez said of his father and former Gaels coach, Victor Arbelaez, who died Oct. 11. “My dad’s dream was for us to be conference champs, regional champs and state champs. We’re doing this for him.”

The Gaels are one step from a second straight Class 4A state championship thanks to their 1-0 semifinal victory over South Tahoe on Friday night at Damonte Ranch High School. Gorman will meet Douglas, a 2-1 shootout winner over Silverado, in today’s 2 p.m. title game.

“This team has battled through so much adversity this year,” said Arbelaez, whose team wears warm-up shirts and sweatbands that read “4 Vic,” in honor of their former coach. “We have so many emotions right now.”

Sophomore Adam Knaff scored the Gaels’ goal on a header with 6:48 to play in the second half. Knaff redirected a pass from Sean Zaher and deposited the ball in the right corner of the net from about 10 yards out.

“We just played with so much energy the whole game,” Knaff said. “We all worked so hard on that goal. It wasn’t just me. That was our whole team working hard.”

The Gaels (15-1-3) dominated but had little to show for their effort until Knaff’s goal.

“This is a team that does not score a lot of goals,” a smiling Arbelaez said. “They certainly don’t score as much as I would like. But they keep fighting.”

Knaff nearly scored with about 24 minutes left in the second half, but his shot rolled wide. He also had a header from in front of the net off a corner kick from Shane Thompson that sailed wide.

“We just kept on shooting and working hard,” Knaff said. “And we finally just put one in. It’s all about not giving up.”

It’s also about remembering Victor Arbelaez, who led the Gaels for 22 years. His son took over the team a year ago and led the Gaels to the state title.

“We were the underdog all year,” Knaff said. “A lot of people doubted us. But we knew we had to do this for Coach Vic and all our coaches.”

Gorman, which avenged a state semifinal loss to South Tahoe in 2005, will hope to win its third state title in the last six years today.

Silverado (16-3-3) was hoping for a rematch in the state championship game with Gorman. The Skyhawks, who lost 3-2 in the title game a year ago, led Douglas 2-0 in the shootout before losing.

“That is a tough way to lose a game,” Silverado coach John Cwik said, shaking his head.

Kyle Mellies and Rene Abrego scored on Silverado’s first two shots of the shootout, and Skyhawks goalie Justin Close stopped Douglas’ Oscar Gonzalez and Eduardo Vega.

Brian Randall, Edgar Arceo and Jose Alcaraz scored on Douglas’ last three shots in the shootout, and Silverado’s Close, Gary Diego and Omar Sanchez didn’t score.

Silverado took a 1-0 lead with about four minutes to play in the first half on a goal by Sanchez from in front of the net. Douglas tied the score at 1 on a penalty kick by Arceo with 11 minutes left.