Gavilan men's soccer coach Albert Marques was forced to change from a 4-4-2 to a 3-5-2 formation last week after he lost seven players to grades and work.
The Rams got one player back, but with only 13 players - just two substitutes - Gavilan could have perhaps used a full bench at Monterey on Friday.
Knotted at 1-all at halftime with Monterey Peninsula College, Gavilan could not push the go-ahead goal across in the second half and instead lost by a narrow 2-1 margin.
The Rams are now 0-8 in Coast Conference play, 4-10 overall. They were scheduled to play a make-up game on Monday at West Valley College, although no score was reported at press time.
"We're definitely hurting with subs and bodies," Marques said. "The second half was one of the better halves we've played in a long time. We controlled the ball for 85 percent of the half ... but the goalie for Monterey did a great job and we just couldn't score."
Marcial Gonzalez scored Gavilan's only goal at the 20th minute in the first half.
Monterey pocketed the game-winner in the second half when an MPC forward got behind the defense for an "easy" goal, Marques said.
"In general, the team is playing much better," Marques said. "After the game, I expressed to my players that even though we lost, I couldn't critique them because they played really well, and that's all you can ask from your players."
The Rams will visit Livermore Friday to play Las Positas College at 4 p.m.
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