Skidmore’s magic goal boosts Hillsdale into first place in PAL Bay Division

It marks the second straight head-to-head win for head coach Jaime Gomez’s team over Burlingame (2-2-1, 5-2-1), the last coming in non-league action last season when Hillsdale was in the lower PAL Ocean Division. Previous to last year, the Knights hadn’t topped Burlingame since 2009-10.

“Definitely a big win,” Gomez said. “We just came up to the Bay, and Burlingame is a very respectable team. ... They are what I call a traditional Bay league team ... so for our boys coming up with a win against a team like that, it’s very big for us.”

Senior forward Brady Skidmore delivered the game-winning goal in the 65th minute, with something of a magic stroke of the right foot.

Amid a scoreless tie with few scoring chances on either side, Burlingame had just cleared the ball to midfield where Hillsdale junior defender Welmer Merida Quixtan won it and turned it back upfield with a quick outlet to Skidmore. The senior drove the left side with an exchange to junior midfielder Nisith Andrabadu, who played it back to Skidmore 10 feet outside of the box.

With two defenders in front of him, Skidmore charged forward and unleashed an unlikely shot attempt, weaving it through two defenders while exacting the slightest daylight between the diving goalkeeper and the left post.

“It was just one moment of individual brilliance,” Gomez said. “He took the player on ... and not a lot of room to shoot, and he found the near post. ... It was almost like he found his shot, while he was doing the move, in his stride.”

Skidmore and his teammates celebrated by storming toward the opposite sideline, a celebration Skidmore has seldom found himself at the center of.

“No, he hasn’t,” Gomez said. “He’s the guy that creates something but he hasn’t been that guy. But I was really happy to see him be that guy. He deserves it.”

It marks the third goal of the year for the second-year varsity senior, and just the fourth of his varsity career.

“He’s done it at practice, and we’ve been working a lot on his individual shots like that at practice,” Gomez said. “So, I’ve encouraged him a lot.”

Prior to Skidmore’s heroics, the defensive battle seemed very much destined for a draw. Burlingame was committed to a 4-5-1 stonewall defense, with senior goalkeeper Thor Chew bending any burgeoning Hillsdale chance to his will by rushing out to diffuse crosses and effectively anchoring every corner kick.

“Not a lot of space,” Gomez said. “They were well organized in the back and they put a lot of good work in in just defending. ... They definitely had a game plan for us as well, and executed it.”

Hillsdale’s best chance came minutes prior to Skidmore’s breakthrough, when senior Cristian Gomez finally connected on a cross pass to Andrabadu, who headed it on goal, only to be denied by Chew.

Coach Gomez, however, prefaced Skidmore’s heroics with a prescient halftime speech, telling his team it was going to take something special to win it.

“Very tight game,” Coach Gomez said. “Burlingame is always a tough team. Very organized. It was going to take a special play and, sure enough, Brady came through.”

Hillsdale is back in the PAL Bay for the first time since 2022-23, after winning the PAL Ocean Division championship last season and capturing its first-ever Central Coast Section Division II title. In 2022-23, the Knights went winless in Bay Division play, and haven’t been a force in the PAL’s upper league since they would the Bay championship in 2005-06. Last season’s Ocean Division crown was Hillsdale’s fifth all-time in the lower league.