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The
Cerritos College men’s soccer team knows more than
likely they will come in second place in the South Coast
Conference. They trail first place Mt. San Antonio
College by two points with two games remaining and are
aware the Mounties have not lost this season. That
didn’t deter the Falcons from playing one of their most
dominant games of the season, as they handed El Camino
College a 5-0 loss on Friday. With the win, Cerritos is
now 15-3-4 overall and 9-1-2 in conference play, while
they are ranked #2 in Southern California behind Mt.
SAC. The team will host East Los Angeles College on
Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. and then close out the regular
season at Long Beach City College on Friday.
It didn’t take
the team very long to strike, as freshman
Norm
Mariscal (Corona Centennial HS) scored
the first of his three goals just 47 seconds into the
game. On the play, the Falcons displayed some amazing
passing, as freshman
Michael Paz
(California HS) started the play when he crossed
the ball from the wing to sophomore
Ivan Perez
(Chaparral (NV) HS). Perez then sent a one-touch
pass to freshman
Alex Munoz
(Corona Centennial HS), who sent a one-touch pass
back to Mariscal. He then put the ball away on a great
shot off the crossbar.
On their second
goal, it started with great defense, as Munoz stole the
ball on a great read and played the ball to Paz. It was
then a quick heel-flick pass to Mariscal, who was making
a late run on the play, and he put enough pressure on
the goalkeeper to jar the ball loose and put away his
second goal. Before halftime, the team was up 3-0 when
sophomore
Juan Huerta (Bell HS) played a great thru
pass that Paz stole from the goalkeeper’s hand and put
away for his second goal of the season.
Showing that
they could strike at any times in the game, freshman
Gerardo Torres
(Norte Vista HS) stole the ball from a Warrior
player in the second half and fed Huerta from 30 yards
out, who was able to drill a tremendous shot into the
upper right-hand corner of the net past a diving
goalkeeper.
“This goal
really was well-deserved by Frankie (Huerta), who played
a marvelous game,” said Cerritos head coach
Benny Artiaga.
“It seemed like everything Huerta touched turned in to a
scoring opportunity. It was good to see Frankie break
out like this because it brings back memories of last
season where he picked it up late in the season to
become an impact player.”
The final goal
came in the 75th minute on a set piece taken
by Huerta again, who placed a perfect ball to a
streaking Mariscal, who put away his third goal of the
game and seventh of the year.
“This was a good
win for us, as Norm and Michael Paz continue to play
well for us up top and our defense refused to give up
any clear scoring opportunities,” added Artiaga. “The
few that they (El Camino) had were well covered by
(goalkeeper)
Diego Millan
(Paramount HS), who played spectacularly for us
in goal.” |
