Three wins and five losses mark Diablo Valley College’s women’s soccer season so far, a record that shows both progress and room for growth. 

DVC’s 2025 season started strong with victories against Carrillo (4-0), Woodland (4-1), and De Anza (3-0) colleges. But recently, losses to West Valley (3-2), Las Positas (4-2), Modesto (3-1), San Joaquin Delta (4-1) and Cosumnes River (4-2) colleges have tested the team’s consistency. 

Isabella Hernandez, the Vikings’ only goalkeeper, has been playing the sport for five years. She said she believes the team has been playing “more defensively than attacking,” which could explain why DVC hasn’t been scoring as much as they’d like to in recent games.

“Communication needs to be a lot better,” Hernandez said. “We’re just really quiet on the field, so we don’t know who’s doing what and we don’t know where anybody is.”

Communication, Hernandez reiterated, plays a major role in how well a team can perform.

“We also need to work on our scanning to see what play we can make while on the field,” she added.

Scanning helps a player see where their teammates are, where open spaces are, and where the opposing player is guarding and watching oncoming plays.

Despite the challenges, Hernandez said the team tends to pick up momentum later in games.

On a recent outing, “our first half we just weren’t in the game at all, and then in the second half we came back, scored two goals and did a lot better,” Hernandez said. 

Former defender Jocelyn Pelcastre, who recently stepped away from the team due to injuries, agreed with Hernandez.

Pelcastre, who has been playing soccer for 16 years — six of them with club teams — said she thought “this season is going pretty good.”

“Even if we aren’t winning… we’re always trying our best,” she said.

Pelcastre also agreed that the team has leaned too heavily on playing defensively.

“We’ve had the ball more on our half of the field,” Pelcastre added. “But I think we play better in the second half once we’ve adjusted and learned from our mistakes.”