Going into the second half of Friday’s contest on the Soccer Field, the Comet women’s soccer team trailed Yuba College 4-0. Despite an increase in its overall effort, the team was unable to climb into contention on the pitch and lost the game 4-1.

The Comets are winless, playing with 11 players and have no substitutes.

During the week, Contra Costa College (0-6 in the Bay Valley Conference) held no practices with its full squad because of schedule conflicts, Comet coach Ted Steen said.

“There is much adversity,” Steen said.

However, this season is about seeing the positives in all the negativity.

He said his team is young and it is a growing program. The rest of the season now consists of facing the same BVC teams they have played for a second time.

“We are halfway into the season,” he said.

The Comets return to action Friday hosting Mendocino College (1-5 in the BVC) at 4 p.m.

To adjust for the lack of available bodies and the lack of intra-team communication during practices, Steen said he has moved players around to optimize its talent.

Ofa Vi has taken over goaltending duties from Sicaly Sorrell, who now plays defensive left back.

In addition to that change, Raquel Alvarez has been moved from the midfield to the center forward position. Alvarez plays as the solitary forward using her dribbling skills and pace to move the ball up the field.

But with the women on the team possessing different levels of experience, playing together without practicing does not produce the type of passing the team needs, Alvarez said.

“I find myself dribbling the ball up the field to gain ground, but eventually I am defended,” she said.

She understands that the team is growing, but the lack of practice time has deterred the squad from knowing how to advance as a team, Alvarez said. Instead, they rely on long passes up the field and wild clearances in the defense.

Steen said the team hopes to spur more play in the midfield while adding strength in the defense.

Abigail Plascencia has been placed at defensive center back replacing Sindy Mendoza who is now playing at the midfield positions.

“He puts me back there to make our defense stronger,” Plascencia said.

Defense is what CCC played for most of the first half against Yuba (4-2-1 in the BVC) and a little less in the second half.

Yuba’s players were faster and more skilled, which was evident in the first 10 minutes of the game when the 49ers scored back-to-back goals.

The rest of the first half saw CCC bombarded with shot attempts, 29 in total, from faster Yuba offenders who outpaced Comet defenders.

In the second half, CCC was able to slow Yuba’s offense and forced a free kick from around the 30 yard line that Plascencia hammered in.

CCC’s women’s soccer program has not completed a season since 2014. In that year, the team finished its one-win season shorthanded.