PITTSBURG — Freshman forward Reece Bingham couldn’t hold back her tears after she was subbed out. She didn’t want to come back to the bench. She threw her jersey aside and sat down on the sideline grass. Her face fell into her hands.
She started 17 out of 19 games this season. She brought production along with her reliability, finishing second on the Hawks in points. A player the team relies on.
She took a deep breath as her head tilted, trying her best to grasping control of her swirling emotions. But as the result seeped in, she knew she wouldn’t gain another chance on the field. That this would be it. The game, and the season, was lost.
Las Positas College’s women’s soccer team was eliminated from the postseason on Nov. 19 with a 2-0 loss to the host Los Medanos Mustangs in the first round of the 3C2A playoffs. The Hawks (8-10-3), the No. 22 seed inn the NorCal Regionals, were overwhelmed by a bigger, sharper and more structured opponent. On the road, Las Positas simply couldn’t keep up with the pace and physicality of the No. 11 Mustangs.
The struggles reflected the big picture issues the team was plagued with throughout the season. They have an undersized, injury-laden roster relying on its competitive spirit to overcome limitations.
That spirit was evident even in the loss. Against a superior Los Medanos, the Hawks showed the grit that pulled them to this stage in the first place.
With only 17 players and nearly half the roster injured at some point, they survived the season by trusting the leadership of players like freshman forward Yulia Ikuta and Bingham, and by leaning on a chemistry that held them together through every setback.
“They were very resilient,” head coach Andrew Cumbo said, “and fun to work with and determined.”
Resilience wasn’t enough to come out victorious. As soon as the Mustangs scored their first, the Hawks felt their fate being sealed. It wasn’t loud or dramatic. It was the kind of moment where you could almost feel the air leave the field. The Hawks knew what it meant to their season.
Their small roster provided so few game-changing options off the bench, chasing a comeback against a team that was structured and physical felt like an impossible challenge. The same daunting task they’d been trying to overcome all year. Passes got a little heavier, touches got a little rushed, and the weight of the season seemed to settle on their shoulders all at once.
“They were really aggressive,” Ikuta said. “They connected with each other better and had better passes.”
Goalkeeper Jordan Tovar kept the game from unraveling entirely. She made the kind of saves that kept Las Positas in it longer than the flow of the match suggested they should be.
“She did great,” Cumbo said. “The two goals were bangers, and she came up big.”
But the fight didn’t disappear. Not from this group. Even against a team as polished and suffocating as Los Medanos, the Hawks kept running. Even late, when everyone was exhausted, the effort didn’t fade. They chased. They pressed. They didn’t fold.
The limitations they carried all season long anchored any comeback hopes. There was never a moment this year when the Hawks had the luxury of rotating, resting, or reworking things mid-match. They were smaller than almost every opponent. They were worn down from months of patching together a lineup, trying to survive the marathon of the season.
Their one true offensive outlet was Ikuta. She spent the night racing into space, creating breakaways and forcing the Mustangs to stay honest. She was the spark they leaned on all year long, her eight goals leading the team.
“I think we had a really good season,” Ikuta said. “I think we came and fought really hard. It was kind of hard for us because we had really low numbers, and then we just got injured all the time, but I think overall we were just working hard.”
Despite it all, these Hawks believed they could make a run. It’s what fueled the passion emanating from Bingham on the sideline, knowing they hadn’t done enough. A season full of obstacles, of adversity. One that required seeing the whole journey rather than just the ending.
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TOP PHOTO: A tough ending to the Women’s soccer season. The team regrouped and supported each other no matter the result. (Photo by Alan Lewis/Special to The Express)
Annie Moore is the Sports Editor of The Express. Follow her on X @SanJosAnnie.
