Coyotes show promise on opening week

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The Lake Tahoe Community College men's soccer team's 2026 season is off and running following its opening week of non-conference play.

The Coyotes, under first-year head coach Carlos Trujeque Leal, battled City College of San Francisco to a 1-1 draw in the regular season opener on Aug. 27 before falling narrowly on the road to No. 10 Evergreen Valley, 2-1, the following evening.

"We are excited that the regular season has kicked off and we're continuing to work hard to get that first win," said Trujeque Leal. "We are close to seeing it happen."

LTCC (0-1-1) has reason to be optimistic with a two-week, four-game homestand starting this Friday, Sept. 4. They'll open it up against No. 18 Folsom Lake (Fri., Sept. 4), American River (Tues., Sept. 8), No. 17 De Anza (Fri., Sept. 11), and Chabot (Tues., Sept. 15).

City College of San Francisco 1 - Lake Tahoe 1
Box Score

The Coyotes got the Trujeque Leal era started on the front foot in Thursday's regular season opener against CCSF.

Joseph Gonzalez and Mason Franks played a clever give-and-go above the area, with Franks releasing Gonzalez into the box. Gonzalez took it with his left and curled it into the upper-right corner to hand the Coyotes the lead in the 30th minute.

LTCC held the advantage into the break, but surrendered the lead six minutes into the second half. Brandon Cardenas finished off Issac Heredia Pantoja's cross for the equalizer in the 51st.

The teams showed that both had some early-season conditioning struggles to work through in the final 40 minutes, as they combined for six cards the rest of the way.

LTCC's Brandon Carreto saw his second yellow in the 80th minute, and the Coyotes did well to see the draw through while down to ten men. Starting goalkeeper John Gonzalez did his part with seven saves on the day.

Lake Tahoe 1 - #10 Evergreen Valley 2
Box Score

The following day, the Coyotes traveled nearly four hours to San José for a stiff test against 10th-ranked Evergreen Valley.

Joseph Gonzalez continued to show promise as the linchpin in the Coyote attack when he provided the assist on Ricardo Grajeda's first collegiate goal in the 55th minute.

LTCC put seven of its 11 shots on frame but could not find another in the 2-1 loss.

Benjamín Jónsson made his LTCC debut and tallied five saves between the pipes.