Las Positas Falls to Canada-Redwood City In Men's Soccer

By Arion Armeniakos

Special to Las Positas athletics

LIVERMORE -- The Las Positas men’s soccer team was held scoreless for the fifth time this season in a 1-0 loss to Canada-Redwood City in their Coast Conference-South Division home opener Friday night.

The Hawks (3-7-1, 0-2) battled gamely against the conference-leading Colts but couldn’t finish the job.

“It feels like a missed opportunity to get a win on the board,” LPC coach Andy Cumbo said. “We generated a lot of goal-scoring opportunities, but we were just unable to put anything in the back of the net.”

After being threatening and in control for most of the match, the Hawks just missed notching an equalizer late in the second half when senior captain Arnaud Mantuidi saw his spot kick soar over the crossbar.

Despite the result, Cumbo praised his team’s commitment and overall performance against the explosive Colts (7-2-1, 2-0), who are averaging nearly three goals a game.

“The result aside, the guys played well tonight and are improving as we go along,” Cumbo said. “Canada is ranked fifth in the north, and we definitely put ourselves in a position to earn a result against them tonight.”

Throughout the season, the ball just doesn’t seem to want to go in when the Hawks are chasing a game. They were disappointed not to earn with a potential momentum-swinging win against Canada, but Cumbo can see a foundation being laid for his team.

“There are tons of positives to take from this one,” Cumbo said. “The guys are working hard, playing with commitment for the school and for each other, and we just went head to head with a highly ranked opponent. We will remain positive after this and stay focused on what we can control moving forward.”

Hawks players are refusing to drop their heads during a season of transition with a lot of new faces on the squad. Leading by example is standout Adolfo Trujillo, who has been dealing with a quad injury, but still suited up before being forced off five minutes before halftime. His absence appeared to affect the Hawks’ fluidity in the final third, but Cumbo praised Trujillo for his dedication to the team.

“Adolfo did all he could to play tonight after missing the last game, and he put in a solid shift to help his teammates,” Cumbo said. “We’ve had a considerable amount of injuries this year, but with eight days until our next game, we hope to get back to full strength in the near future.”

Cumbo's team can start turning things around in some crucial conference games coming up. The Hawks travel to Hartnell on Oct. 12 and Skyline on Oct. 15 before hosting Foothill on Oct. 18.