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In
many sports, athletes are told by their coaches that
near the end of a close game, it never hurts just to put
the ball on net. For Cerritos College sophomore
midfielder
Ivan Perez (Chaparral NV) HS), it came at
the perfect time, as he scored the game-winning goal
with five minutes remaining in a 2-1 decision over
visiting East Los Angeles College on Tuesday. The win
improves the Falcons record to 16-3-4 overall and 10-1-2
in conference action, while the Huskies dropped to 9-9-5
and 2-6-5. Cerritos, ranked #3 in Southern California,
close out their regular season on Friday with a 3:00
p.m. game at Long Beach City.
East Los Angeles
got on the scoreboard first, as Guillermo Gonzalez was
able to chip the ball past Falcon goalkeeper
Ivan Mercado
(Paramount HS) in the 47th minute. The
Huskies sent the ball deep into Cerritos territory and
crashed the net, with Gonzalez capitalizing on the
traffic in front of Mercado.
However, just
six minutes later, the Falcons evened the score on a
great control play by freshman forward
Michael Paz
(California HS), who continued his torrid scoring
streak. On a lead pass by sophomore midfielder
Billy
Gutierrez (Huntington Park HS), Paz was
able to catch up to the ball and control it with a
header. Still in full stride, he was able to get enough
on the ball and scored past a diving Huskie goalkeeper
Martin Romero.
The physical
game was played primarily at midfield, with both teams
looking for scoring chances. As the Falcons began to
take more control of the offense in the game, Perez was
in position to score the eventual game-winner. Paz put
the first shot on goal that was knocked away by Romero.
It then got cleared just outside the box, where Perez
stepped up and drilled a low laser shot that got through
the arms of Romero, who dove for the ball. |
