A flock of new faces took flight as the 2026-2027 men’s soccer season kicked off at Las Positas College. Three new coaches, four new captains, and a pool of transfers and freshmen made up more than half the roster.
Head coach Andrew Cumbo’s roster is one of its biggest to date after this summer’s recruiting season. Cumbo’s job will be finding a way to maximize the potential of such a large group.
Cumbo spent the offseason evaluating his roster and expanded it to 35 players — including about a dozen transfers, eight returners and 24 freshmen. Three new assistant coaches were added to help manage the large team. Four returning sophomores were named as captains — midfielder Hadi Jaber, goalkeeper Andric Macias, midfielder Kayke Carneiro and defender Jose Valencia — to lead this year’s Hawks.
“Once we get into games, I don’t know if decisions are gonna get easier,” Cumbo said. “But they will have some more factors to them now that we have some minutes under our belt.”
Cumbo’s priority was building a team-first culture and clear roles. With 11 starters and 18 regular contributors, Cumbo emphasized the importance of honesty and putting the team before individual egos. He and his staff are also fine-tuning the fluidity of their playstyle so players can execute confidently without overthinking.
Cumbo wants to focus on teamwide talent rather than a core group of stars. The season will feature 35 players changing roles, holding a team-first mindset and handling competition.
If the players buy into that, their depth becomes a weapon. If they don’t, managing minutes and egos could be the team’s biggest challenge.
Every year, the entire team votes on a poll to select three captains. Jaber led the race and was already expected to wear the band around his arm. Last season, he totaled 15 points for the team, putting him on the radar. This year, Valencia, Macias and Carneiro had a three-way tie. Cumbo came to the verdict that there should be a fourth this year. All of them deserved it.
The roster shows not just experience, but competitiveness. Last season’s roster only held four transfers — this year, Cumbo recruited a dozen transfers. This season’s Hawks are an older and more experienced group.
According to Cumbo, the transfers brought a different mentality to the team. They are hungry, appreciative, and competitive — raising the standard at practice and making practices and the on-field product more intense.
With 35 players on the roster, that competition stretches across the team. Cumbo said there is no designated starting 11 for every game with multiple lineups available, showing the amount of depth he has to work with. Even the goalkeeper position has five players competing for time behind team captain Macias.
“Starters are important,” Cumbo said, “but non-starters are just as important, and sometimes more … As a coach, you can use those players to try to make a difference in the middle of the game, and you’ve got that element of surprise.”
Building a team that plays united is just as important as finding the right players. Cumbo and his staff spent six weeks over the summer building the system and figuring out where everyone fits. They have emphasized that individual roles cannot come before the team as a whole.
“We have to check our ego at the door,” he said. “Whether you’re a starter or not, we (have) got to make sure we just have this mindset that the team comes first.”
The first four games of the season could ultimately test how well all those pieces come together for the Hawks. In their home opener, the Hawks beat the College of the Siskiyous in convincing fashion with a score of 3-0, getting 23 players to be able to touch the field.
In the second game of the season, the Hawks took on a Merced team that went 14-3-5 last season and ultimately suffered the same fate as the Hawks, a second-round playoff exit. The Hawks would not have that same offensive superpower as previous and fell 1-0. The Hawks shortened their rotation by four players but still used their unlimited substitutions privilege.
The next two games come against opponents with a combined record of 25-14-4 and two first-place conference finishes in Contra Costa and Feather River. The Hawks are now 1-1 and could fall to 1-3 very quickly.
Cumbo has more options than ever. But that means more decisions to make once the games toughen up. With only 11 starters and typically 18 players seeing the field, keeping the rest of the roster ready and bought into their roles will be a challenge. This season will show whether 35 individual athletes can truly perform as one team.
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TOP PHOTO: LPC student Hadi Jaber (left) practices with fellow teammates (right) prior to a soccer game Sept. 15, 2026. This men’s soccer session has 35 players and hopes are high for the new season.
Annie Moore is ROLE for The Express. Follow her on X @SanJosAnnie.
