Photo taken By Alan Lewis
It has been over a year since the Las Positas women’s soccer team has played a match, and even longer since they have had fans watch them in one, so they women were determined to make the most of this opportunity and show everyone what they had in the tank. And they certainly did not disappoint.
In their first match of the season, the weather was perfect for soccer as the Las Positas women defeated Chabot by a final score of 3-0. After over a year of not playing due to COVID-19, the women came out of the gates strong and dominated Chabot the entire match as Chabot could only hope to steal the ball and clear it to get more breathing room.
Even though Las Positas were the aggressors the whole match, they could not score in the first half. Midfielder Isabel Mello had two great chances with a couple of free-kicks, but both of them were too high, with the first one hitting the crossbar. In the second half, she took a corner and placed the ball beautifully in the box, but no one was able to touch it and it ended up going in the bottom right corner to give Las Positas a 1-0 lead in the 50th minute. “I was aiming in front of the keeper because [they] had someone right on the keeper. I was trying to put it right there [in front of her teammate] but it curved luckily and went in smoothly,” recalled Mello after the game.
“Stay positive and keep doing what you’re doing,” is what Head coach Andy Cumbo told the women at the half. His pep talk definitely worked, as his team scored three goals in the second half. He knew they were playing well in the first half but just could not score, so he wanted them to keep playing normally and the goals would eventually come.
Even with the lead, Las Positas did not let the pressure stop and kept attacking every chance they had. Forward Caitlyn Garrison left her mark with two goals within 15 minutes of each other, the first at 55 minutes and the second at 70 minutes.
Chabot struggled the whole game as they could not get anything going on offense. The Las Positas women had a 3-2-3-2 formation and were on the attack early and often, showing the chemistry the team has built up until this point. Chabot only had one great attack, but it came in the 90th minute as Las Positas goalkeeper, Dariana Mihalache, made a great save to preserve the clean sheet.
After their dominating performance on Friday afternoon, Coach Cumbo and the Las Positas women will look to keep being aggressive while allowing no goals, as they face Cosumnes River at home on Tuesday.
Arnav Koul is a Writer for The Express.
