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With the feel of a
state championship game all around them, the
Cerritos College men's soccer team had a flair for
the dramatic, as they fought back from a 3-1 deficit
to record a 5-4 South Coast Conference win at Mt.
San Antonio College in front of an estimated 500
fans. The win catapults the Falcons into a first
place tie in conference play with Pasadena City
College, who are both 9-3-1 for 28 points, while the
Mounties dropped into third place with 26 points.
Cerritos will close out the regular season at home
at 3:00 p.m. against fourth place Long Beach City
College, while PCC will face Los Angeles Harbor
College. On top of defeating Mt. SAC for the third
time this season, the victory moves the Falcons into
second place in the power rankings in Southern
California, which would give them home field
advantage as long as they remain alive in the
playoffs.
"Without question,
this is the most spectacular game we have all been a
part of," said Falcon head coach
Benny
Artiaga, who coached the 2006 team to
the state championship. "This game had everything a
fan could ever ask for in a game and the coaching
staff and I thanked the players for allowing us to
be a part such an amazing game. The guys left
nothing on the field and they were rewarded for
their efforts."
It didn't start
off as a memory any of the players or coaches would
want to have, as Mt. SAC took a 2-0 lead 12 minutes
into the game. The Falcons even missed a penalty
kick that could have cut their deficit in half.
However, 22 minutes into the game, Cerritos got the
goal they needed, as freshman midfielder
Oscar
Rodriguez (Long Beach Wilson HS)
scored on a header off a pass from sophomore
midfielder
Alex Munoz
(Corona Centennial HS).
"The coaches and I
decided to look toward the positive at halftime and
try and motivate the guys instead of breaking them
down," added Artiaga. "They already felt bad about
being behind and wanted them to approach the second
half with a positive message. We also thought a
goalkeeping change would be best."
Sophomore keeper
Diego Millan (Paramount HS)
played the first half and allowed three goals, while
freshman
Pedro
Velazquez (Colegio-Metropolitano,
Guatemala) came on in the second half and made
three saves while allowing one goal.
The team
responded, especially freshman forward
Luis
Gonzalez (Long Beach Millikan HS),
who accounted for the last three Falcon goals. After
freshman
Stephan
Mongu (Hamilton HS) cut the
deficit to 3-2 in the 50th minute on a pass from
freshman defender
Rene
Hernandez (Warren HS),
Gonzalez ripped a shot into the upper right corner
of the goal from 35 yards out, with Hernandez
picking up his second assist in a row.
"The goal by
Stephan was exactly what we were talking about doing
at halftime," said Artiaga. "We wanted to make a
statement early in the second half and that goal set
the stage for an amazing comeback."
Gonzalez gave the
Falcons a 4-3 lead in the 73rd minute when his shot
from 30 yards out looked to be headed over the
crossbar. But, the shot seemed to have eyes for the
back of the net and dipped enough to make it under
the crossbar. Mountie Spencer Jones was able to tie
the game at 4-4 in the 78th minute, but the deadlock
would be broken by Gonzalez six minutes later.
Munoz drew the
defense toward him by holding the ball before he
turned away from the defense and sent the ball
toward the Mt. SAC goal. Reading the play from the
outset was both Gonzalez and the Mountie goalie.
With the keeper out, the two went toward the ball
with Gonzalez poking the ball with his toe as the
two collided and the ball going into the net. The
impact left Gonzalez on the field injured, but the
team was able to pick him up just as Gonzalez picked
up his team in the second half.
"It was as if Luis
decided to put the whole team on his shoulders and
say that there was no way he was going to allow this
team to lose," said Artiaga. "What he did against
this team was stuff you normally see at the
professional and international level. He was
amazing."
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