The Cerritos College
men's soccer coaching staff has announced that seven
players from their 2008 State Championship team have
signed letters of intent, with three of them going to
Division I programs. Heading the list of signees are
All-Americans
Jonathan Rivas
(Santa Fe HS) and
Alex Munoz
(Corona Centennial HS), who have committed to UC
Irvine. The two will be joining a program that was the
highest-ranked Division I program in California and
advanced to the Sweet 16 this past season. Defender
Norm
Mariscal (Corona Centennial HS), a 1st
Team All-South Coast Conference selection along with
Rivas and Munoz, signed with UC Riverside, also a
Division 1 program.
Forward Gerardo
Torres (Norte Vista HS) and defender
Miguel Vargas
(Artesia HS) have committed to Division II
National Champion Cal State Dominguez Hills, where
currently three former Falcons play (Marco Pulido,
Bryan Alvarez and Humberto Lopez).
Midfielder
Ricky Reyes (Hawthorne HS) has verbally
committed to Cal Poly Pomona.
Goalkeeper Diego
Millan (Paramount HS) and freshman
midfielder
Jhosimar Rivera (Gahr HS) have
both committed to Kansas Wesleyan where former Falcons
Abraham Moran, Michael Padilla, Robert
Carrillo and Hector Quezada all currently
play.
Rivas was voted the SCC's Defender of the Year, while Munoz
was also named a Far West All-American after scoring 10
goals and shared the team lead with 17 assists. As for
Reyes, he was a 2nd Team All-SCC selection.
Former Falcon Missael Macedo, who played in 2007 and
had originally committed to NAIA champion Graceland
Iowa, has signed to play with Division II Hawaii Hilo,
where currently two former Falcons play (Luis Segovia
and Ivan Mercado). Also, Jesus Ochoa of
the 2007 team, has verbally committed to play at Kansas
Wesleyan. Ochoa, who was also a kicker on the Falcon
football team, had to sit out the 2008 season due to an
injury.
According to head coach
Benny Artiaga,
"It gives the coaching staff great pleasure to see our
young men leave our program well taken care of. While we
will miss these individuals tremendously, knowing they
are fulfilling there dreams of playing at a four-year
school shows they put in the work in the classroom as
well as on the soccer field. This truly puts icing on
the cake for a tremendous season to see seven of our
eight sophomores and one freshman from the 2008 team
leave for the next level. It shows we are serving as a
positive stepping stone for our student-athletes as they
pursue a degree." |
