The City College men’s soccer team lost, 4-1, against MiraCosta in a home game on Oct. 17.

The Spartans now rank the highest in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference with their 4-1-1 conference record, followed by Palomar College (3-1-2) and Cuyamaca (4-2), with six games left in the season.

MiraCosta pushed through the Knights’ defense to score two goals in each half before Isaac Velazquez finally scored for City with 11 minutes left in the game. 

“We had some quality opportunities in the first half that didn’t go in,” head coach Chris Tolles said, “so I think maybe the guys put their heads down about that a little bit.”

City’s nine shot attempts and three shots-on-goal were overshadowed by MiraCosta’s 26 shots, 14 of which were on target. 

Despite the loss, Tolles still commended the effort of sophomore Carls Gudiel, a forward who started in 11 of the Knights’ 15 games this season. 

“His work rate is phenomenal,” Tolles said. “He’s just constantly working. He goes from one end of the field to the other end and just works his tail off. Score line would have been a lot worse if he’s not in there.”

When asked how the team trains between games, Tolles said he likes to focus on areas of play that need improvement.

“We’ve got to obviously clean up the defensive side,” he said.

The Knights will play next on Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. against Palomar College, which beat City, 3-2, on Sept. 26. 

“It’s Friday night at Palomar, which we lost in the last minute to them,” Tolles said. “So we’re looking for some payback.”