The women’s soccer team lost to the American River College Beavers on Oct. 9 in a closely contested game.

The team has not won in over two weeks, scoring zero goals during this stretch of games.

“We did okay,” said Hawks’ head coach Cesar Plasencia. “Okay performances usually don’t get you the wins, though.”

The Hawks maintained possession in the first fifteen minutes of the game and were able to drive the ball to the offensive side of the pitch.

Sophomore defender Rachel Dube played a stout defense against the opposition, often intercepting the ball in the midfield before the Beavers could mount an attack.

But in the last 12 minutes of the first half, ARC managed to push the Hawks towards the defensive side of the field.

Beavers’ freshman defender Ceci Velasquez almost scored when  the ball ricocheted off CRC’s goal post and back into the field of play.

The players maintained a back-and-forth pattern until halftime.

“We worked hard,” Plasencia said. “We didn’t get outplayed”.

In the second half, both sides strengthened their play, connecting and intercepting passes throughout the bout.

Freshman midfielder Jessica DeAnda took the ball across the field and into the Beavers’ defense several times. She and ARC sophomore midfielder Kayla Guy were often seen going toe-to-toe for control of the ball.

Twenty minutes into the second half, a key turn of events put the game in ARC’s favor when ARC freshman forward Alyssa Hicks was awarded a penalty kick.

The penalty was called when Rachel Dube collided into Hicks from behind.

Hicks cashed in on the penalty kick and tipped the scales 1-0.

Dube was red carded and taken out of the game in the stoppage time, her first fault for unsportsmanlike conduct, her second for dissent against a referee.

With one less player on the field and only minutes left in the game, CRC was not able to score and the Beavers took the victory.

Coach Plasencia commended the skill of both teams, but said the loss was a result of a key mistake.

“We made that foul, the other team capitalized on it, and it made the difference of the game,”  he said.

However, the players were optimistic about the night’s outcome. DeAnda said that the team was “able to attack and get forward,” and that they were “connecting passes well.”

Deanda still thought there was room for improvement.

“We can take advantage of opportunities better”, she said.

Freshman midfielder Aurora Rincon also believed the team needed to improve in future games.

“I feel we need to communicate more,” she said. “But, we’ll get better.”