Despite an aggressive defensive mindset and multiple opportunities on goal, the men’s soccer team fell 2-0 to Los Positas College on Sept. 17 at the Soccer Field.

Las Positas (2-3-1) coach Andy Cumbo said his team hoped to have a lot of opportunities at goal, but was not expecting Contra Costa College (0-6) to be so defensive-minded.

“Because they played so defensively, and due to the crowded midfield, we made adjustments by spreading the field out,” Cumbo said.

During the first half of the game CCC allowed Las Positas to dominate control of the ball. Because of this, the Comets adjusted to defending in their half and looked to force mistakes in hopes of earning opportunities to mount counter attacks.

The Hawks were shut out by CCC’s team defense for the majority of first half action.

With eight minutes remaining in the first half, the Comet defense was finally caught sleeping.

Hawk forward Dimitrios Vonich gave a head pass to fellow forward Tyler Cesio who turned and headed it past the Comet goalkeeper for a 1-0 lead.

Comet players complained the initial lob pass into the box to a Hawks forward was offside. However, their claims fell on deaf ears.

During the play, CCC coach Rudy Zeller instinctively screamed toward the referees, “That was offside.”

“It was a bad call on the first goal,” Zeller said. “Sometimes players make mistakes, coaches make mistakes and even referees make mistakes.”

Cumbo said he had no view of the first goal.

The Comets did not go into the half quietly, but despite mounting an offensive attack the team squandered a free kick opportunity three minutes after Las Positas scored.

In the first half, Las Positas attempted nine shots, while the Comets only had three shots.

Zeller said his team came out and played a counter-attacking style of soccer in the first half.

The second half began with a noticeable sense of urgency from the Comet players as the team exploded out of the half with more pressing and effort.

However, this did not stop Las Positas from continuing to attack the Comets’ backline with long passes to their forwards. With 40 minutes left in the second half, the Hawks’ aggressive play led to multiple clear passes on goal that were well defended by CCC.

“It was our best game this season,” Zeller said.

With CCC players overexerting themselves on the press, Las Positas stole possession multiple times.

The Comets continued to fight and limited the number of attacks from Las Positas, but the team was still unable to create anything more than small shooting angles.

With the Comets focusing on pressing, it opened counterattacks for Las Positas. Freshman forward Sebastian Preciado gave Las Positas a two-goal lead with a beautiful chip over the comet’s goalkeeper.

The chance came after a failed save attempt by the Comet goalkeeper who went out of his box to attempt to corral the ball.

His position left Preciado with a clear shot.

Sophomore defender Ryan Fretwell said that the team is playing a lot better than when the season began — attributing it to hard work.

“Our play is a lot better than when we started,” Fretwell said. “We played better together defensively.”