Las Positas women's soccer kicking goals, taking names

Not only is the Las Positas College women’s soccer team enjoying another prolific season, but the Hawks also have an infectious team spirit.

A stout group of sophomores is showing the way for the No. 7 ranked Division III team in the country. It’s a program bursting at the seams with promise and excitement under head coach Paul Sapsford.

“I love it here. It’s great,” says midfielder Lauren Sisneros, a Liberty High graduate and transfer from UNLV. “Just how supportive the team is, it’s a really a positive environment to play in.”

Plus, the Hawks (10-1-2, 3-0-0 Coast-North) have a beautiful banner now hanging in the gymnasium after earning the first conference title in program history last season.

“Last year we basically put it in our heads that we didn’t have one of those banners up there,” says California High graduate Paola Samaniego, who has nine assists and five goals. “It became our drive and our goal to make it happen, so that’s what we told our freshmen this year: ‘You guys want to show that you’ve worked hard for this school: Get that banner up there.’”

Las Positas has amassed 49 goals in 13 games and boasts a trio of capable goalkeepers in sophomore Anjelica Gonzalez and freshmen Eme Espinoza and Marisol Camargo. The Hawks took an authoritative 2-0 win over perennial power City College of San Francisco this week.

Samaniego attributes the Hawks' success on offense to unselfishness. Players aren’t afraid to take opponents on, but they are also looking to pass.

“We work as a team, we win as a team and we score as a team,” she says. “No one takes credit: ‘Oh, I scored.’ Yes, you did but it was a team effort that put it there.”

About seven or eight Hawks starters, including top scorer Meghan Giamona, have evolved from the powerful West Coast Soccer Club headed by former San Jose Earthquakes star Troy Dayak. Giamona, Samaniego, Sisneros and Mimi Freeman all played for the West Coast Wild, which was ranked No. 1 in the nation. Sapsford is a West Coast staff coach.

Clearly, the West Coast connection has been a boon for the program.

“I think West Coast players have a totally different outlook on the game, mentally, physically, all of it,” says Giamona, who has 10 goals and eight assists. “We’re very levelheaded and very: ‘This is our goal, this is what we need to accomplish. We’ll do anything to get there … I love it.”

Dayak, a highly respected coach and mentor with boundless energy, says he's "proud" of all the West Coast players at Las Positas. He describes "Paul Sapsford as an outstanding coach. The girls are in good hands there."

Dayak broke down the strengths of the impressive West Coast contingent at Las Positas.

"Erin Wheatly has a beautiful left foot and covers the outside flank well," Dayak says. "Miori "Mimi" Freeman is an outstanding defender that can play any position on the field. Paola Samaniego is a beast and a threat to score every time she gets the ball.

"Meghan Giamona was fun to coach because she was not afraid to try new things. She has unique ways to get the shot off," he continued. "Lauren "Sis" Sisneros is a great player and quarterbacks the team and always gives you 100 percent."

Dayak went on to also praise Araceli Honojosa -- "who has a motor that never quits."

As a prep star, Sisneros helped Liberty to three consecutive Bay Valley Athletic League titles as a four-year high-school starter. The Lions upset the No. 1 team in the nation, Monte Vista, in her sophomore season. She also relished her time at West Coast, where players work hard and smile a lot too.

“Troy was a great coach at West Coast,” she says. “I think he also had the fun environment. It’s hard work, but you need to have fun while doing it too. Troy helped all the girls with college, like getting there and what you want to do.”

Sisneros and Giamona have a comfort level in the midfield stemming from their West Coast experiences the past four or five years. “We know each other, like we know where we’re gonna be,” says Giamona. “(Also) playing with Mimi, you have confidence in the players that you’ve been around a lot. Having them all around me is a confidence boost.”

With an ultra-competitive mindset, the Hawks practice like they play – with intensity. They battle each other as hard as they do opponents. Team chemistry started early in the process.

“We have a lot of talent this year and we work very well together,” Samaniego says. “It started off in the preseason where we got to know each other.”

How far can the Hawks fly?

“I think we can make it far in the playoffs, if not (go) all the way,” Sisneros says.

“I’m hoping we go far and we at least win conference,” says sophomore left back Sofia Escalante, a transfer from Cal Baptist. “The last school I was at we also won conference, so that was cool. I like to win.”

Always a gamer, Giamona says she would “love” to play at a four-year school. She has already received a full-ride offer from Indiana Tech, an NAIA school, and more offers are sure to follow.

“I’d really love to stay local, so definitely looking at some Division I, Division II schools, but we’ll see,” she says. “Offers are coming, so we’ll see where they go. It’d be really cool to play at Saint May’s, that’s my dream. It’s Division I, that’d be so cool.”

Giamona also has a special place in her heart for her former team at Livermore High.

“My senior year was by far my best year,” she said. “(Coach) Chad Harper was my coach and he was awesome … We won NCS and we had fun, so we got the competition and the fun too, that’s always the best.”

SHE'S A KEEPER: A heady keeper, Gonzalez appreciates having such a talented group of players in front of her as she keeps things organized in the back and tries to cut off angles for opponents.

“I have to thank my teammates always,” Gonzalez says. “I know they have faith in me too.”

LOOKING AHEAD: Las Positas will travel to Coast-South-leading West Valley (9-2-4, 4-1) on Friday to kick off a grinding three-game road swing. They are at Coast-South runner-up Evergreen Valley on Oct. 16, and then will visit Coast-North title contender Canada on Oct. 26.