Undermanned Crystal earns emotional win over Hillsdale

Dalal came up with an unlikely steal in the closing minutes, pouncing when a Hillsdale defender slipped on the wet surface and whiffed on an attempt to clear the ball. The senior took the turnover in stride toward the west goal, losing his feet as he fired a shot by the charging keeper. Next thing Dalal knew, the crowd was going crazy as he sprinted toward Crystal’s fans and celebrated with a classic knee slide toward them on the northwest corner of the pitch.

“I just saw green grass and the goalkeeper in pink,” Dalal said, “and I just tried to shoot it by him. Somehow I ended up on the ground and I looked up and the ball was in the net. I heard everyone cheering, and I was like: ‘Oh my God, I’m going to go to the corner and cheer with all my friends, thank them for coming out.’”

With the win, the Gryphons (4-0) remains unbeaten on the year, and improve to 2-0 in the Firebird Classic Tournament. Crystal will now face Cupertino in the final game of bracket play, with the winner of Saturday’s showdown clinching a spot in the tournament championship game.

Thursday’s win was even more improbable as Crystal played the final 27 minutes with 10 players after losing a man to a red card. Considering the circumstances, Crystal head coach Roberto Miranda would have been satisfied with a draw.

“At one point, against Hillsdale with 10 men, I think it would have sufficed,” Miranda said. “Usually a tie ... that’s a great result against a big school like Hillsdale. And then just getting the win, it’s just as feeling that’s over the top.”

The Gryphons were at an advantage playing at home, on a field that is a good 20 feet shorter than regulation. The compact pitch made the game feel more like a hockey match at times, not to mention the rainy conditions inhibiting Hillsdale’s fleet-footed front row.

“Hillsdale’s always a great team, CCS caliber,” Miranda said. “Every year they have a great program ... but when they come to a smaller field like this, it sometimes plays to our advantage.”

That didn’t stop Hillsdale (3-1-1) from dominating time of possession. The Knights had six shots on goal in the first half to Crystal’s one.

“We had most of the ball, probably 80% of the time on their half knocking the ball around like we’re used to, our style of play,” Hillsdale head coach Jaime Gomez said. “Just unfortunately one mistake. They waited for that opportunity.”

The Knights had several chances, none more frustrating than in the 32nd minute. Crystal had just missed a good chance at the other end with a strong, bending shot off the sideline getting covered by Hillsdale keeper Logan Baker. But with the field flipping so quickly, as it so often does at Crystal, just moments later Hillsdale was suddenly on the attack with a free kick from 25 yards out.

The initial shot sailed over Crystal’s four-man wall and was high on goal, but was deflected by the keeper, with the rebound going right to Hillsdale. The second shot pinballed through a cluster of players but rolled on goal, only to get redirected at the last second with Crystal defender Taj Apparao chasing it down and flicking it away as he crossed inside the right post.

For a Hillsdale team that scored 17 goals in its four previous games, it was surprising it was the last best chance the Knights would see all afternoon.

“We’ve been scoring goals,” Gomez said. “Obviously, on a bigger field, maybe it’s a different game. Small field, it’s just to their benefit. It’s their home field. But I’m still positive. It’s an unfortunate loss. If you look on the score, we lost. But in the way of playing the game, we won.”

Hillsdale was coming off a 4-0 win over Cupertino in the opening game of the Firebird tournament. The Knights got on the board in the first minute of the Saturday win on a banger off the top left from junior Tyler Hughes. Senior forward Sineth Andrabadu — in his first year of high school soccer after opting not to play club soccer this year — went on to score twice in the game.

“In that game we played more patient,” Andrabadu said. “Obviously, on our home field, playing on a bigger field, I think it gave us a little more confidence going into the game since we could use our speed up top.”

Dalal now has three goals on the year to go with four assists for Crystal. The Gryphons’ leading scored is senior Teague Durkin with four goals.