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The Cerritos College men's soccer
team rebounded from an opening round loss at the
prestigious Hartnell Tournament over the weekend and won
their next two games to capture the consolation
championship. It marked the first time the team had won
the consolation title since they competed in the
tournament. After opening with a 2-0 loss to Fresno City
College, the Falcons (2-2-0) posted a 2-1 win over
American River College followed by a 4-0 victory over
Canada College. Next up for Cerritos will be a 3:00 p.m.
non-conference home game against San Bernardino Valley
College on Tuesday.
The team suffered a major blow in the
opening game against Fresno City, as sophomore
Adrian
Gonzalez
(Lynwood
HS)
was injured on a breakaway. While charging to the goal,
the Rams goalkeeper came out to cut off the angle and
the two players ran into each other. Gonzalez was able
to get a shot off, but a Fresno City defender slid and
cleared the ball away. Throughout the game, the Falcons
had opportunities to score, but just could not get the
ball into the net, while they limited Fresno City to
just three shots on the day.
Sophomore forward
Joshua Meyer
(Cerritos
HS)
had two chances to score, but missed on a penalty kick
in the 69th minute and an open net header in the 75th
minute. Freshman midfielder
Juan Davila
(Birmingham
HS)
had one of his shots hit off the post in the 80th
minute, while freshman midfielder
Ivan Perez
(Chaparral,
NV HS)
played very well. The team turned up the heat
offensively late in the game and finished the game
with 12 shots on goal.
In a win-or-go-home situation, the
Falcons found themselves down 1-0 just 10 minutes into
the game, as the Beavers scored when a crossing pass
just got past Davila and freshman goalkeeper
Ivan Mercado
(Paramount
HS),
leaving the net open. The team rebounded in the 38th
minute freshman
Brian Alvarez
(Salesian
HS)
played the ball to freshman midfielder
Billy
Gutierrez
(Huntington
Park HS)
at the top of the box who made a great individual play
and struck a shot to the far post past the American
River goalkeeper. Cerritos took their first lead in the
80th minute, as Gutierrez played a great ball down the
middle to Meyer who fired a game winning shot past the
keeper.
Cerritos kept their offensive
momentum going in the consolation championship game
against Canada, as they scored once in the first half
and followed it with three more in the second half. It
was the team's best all-around effort of the season, as
they did not allow the Colts a single shot on goal.
Meyer picked up two more goals, while freshman forward
Costas
Sanchez
(Columbus
HS)
accounted for the other two tallies. Meyer opened the
scoring in the 25th minutes before Sanchez picked up his
goals in the 50th and 61st minutes. Meyer closed out the
scoring in the 70th minute, as Mercado earned his first
shutout of the season. Also playing well for the Falcons
were sophomore forward
Jessi Lopez
(South
Gate HS)
and sophomore defender
Marco Pulido
(South
Gate HS). |
