Las Positas Soccer Set For Final Push In Coast-South

Las Positas men’s and women’s soccer coach Andy Cumbo is preparing his teams for four tough tests to complete the conference season.

Both Hawks squads have enjoyed successful campaigns — the LPC men are in second place behind state-power Evergreen Valley-San Jose in the Coast Conference-South Division, while the LPC women have shaken off injuries this season to reside in the top four in the Coast-South.
The close-knit Hawks program still has a lot of work to do, though.
The men (12-2-3, 5-2-2),No. 15 in the recent CCCSIA state rankings and riding a five-game unbeaten streak, will host Cabrillo (6-4-4, 4-1-3 Coast-North) at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 28. The Hawks then travel to Coast North-leading Cañada (8-1-5, 5-0-3), ranked 17th in the state, on Halloween, Oct. 31. They will then have home tests against Coast-North powers Hartnell, on Nov. 7, ranked third in the state, and Skyline, Nov. 14.
The men have outscored their past three opponents a combined 16-1 — beating Gavilan 5-0, Chabot 2-0 and Monterey Peninsula 9-1. The Hawks’ Arteen Arianmanesh (6 goals, 7 assists) and Alejandro Ramirez (7 G, 5 A) are tied for second in the Coast-South in points with 19 apiece.
“The men’s team has four really tough games ahead,” Cumbo says. “This gives us the opportunity to compete against high-level teams, and ideally prepare for the playoffs. All four of these opponents are ranked high in the playoff picture, it’s very likely we could see any or some of them later again in November. If we can build in this last segment we can generate some good momentum going into the third season, the tournament."
The LPC women (6-7-3, 1-4-2) also have some big showdowns ahead, beginning on Tuesday, Oct. 28 at home against Foothill (8-6-1, 2-3-1 Coast South), at 4 p.m. The Hawks are at Cabrillo (7-6-1, 4-1-0 Coast-North) on Tuesday, Nov. 4, travel to West Valley (5-9-1, 2-4-0 Coast-South) on Nov. 7, and close conference play at home against Skyline on Nov. 14.
“The women also have four challenging and really important games coming up,” Cumbo said. “I think we need to get results in all four and two of the opponents are really good, Foothill and West Valley. If we can get results, a tie or a win, that should solidify our opportunity for the playoffs.”
He added that women’s team is “having a good year, we have a constant challenge of injuries so we don’t have much depth or any at all in a lot of our games, but the team is full of fighters, and we are making progress as we enter this final portion of the season.”