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Photo by
Juan Velez.
Michael Paz scored in the 35th minute
to open scoring for Cerritos. The Falcons
defeated Mt. SAC 2-1. |
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Just three days
removed from being upset by Pasadena City College,
3-1, the Cerritos College men's soccer team posted a
2-1 home win over rival Mt. San Antonio College in a
critical South Coast Conference game on Friday. The
Falcons, who were ranked as high as #2 in the nation
by the National Soccer Coaches Association of
America (Division III), recorded their second win of
the year over the Mounties, who were ranked #1 in
the country.
"This game showed
exactly what this team is made of," said head coach
Benny Artiaga. "We knew we needed to
come back after the loss to Pasadena City and the
boys really showed the kind of character they have.
This game is not only a rivalry game and an
important conference game, but it has national
implications and it gives us the inside track on
getting the best recruits."
The game also
matches former Cerritos head coach Juan Sanchez
against Artiaga, who was his assistant coach when
the two led the Falcons to the state championship
game in 2004. Until this game, Sanchez had never
lost a game on the Cerritos home turf. Back on
September 6, the Falcons (11-2-1 overall, 4-1-1 SCC)
defeated the Mounties (10-3-2, 3-2-1) 2-1 in the
championship game of the Mt. San Antonio Tournament.
The team has now defeated Mt. SAC twice and are
scheduled to face them again on November 11 on the
Mounties home turf.
Cerritos opened
the scoring in the 35th minute when sophomore
All-American
Michael Paz
(California HS) scored just outside the
box, as his shot sneaked into the lower part of the
corner past Mt. SAC goalkeeper Luis Ocampo. Paz was
able to score after a nice pass from freshman
forward
Luis
Gonzalez (Long Beach Millikan HS).
Even with a 1-0
lead, Artiaga was certain that would not be enough
to beat the Mounties. "The message at halftime was
crystal clear. There was no way one goal was going
to win this game. Mt. SAC is an extremely skilled
and disciplined team, so we knew we had to remain
aggressive."
It took the
Falcons just two minute into the second half to get
the insurance goal Artiaga spoke of. Gonzalez sent a
perfect feed to an unmarked
Alex Munoz
(Corona Centennial HS) and the sophomore
midfielder drilled the ball into the back of the
net. The play by Munoz didn't surprise Artiaga one
bit.
"Alex is one of
our captain's and he showed his leadership and skill
and gave the team the boost they needed," remarked
Artiaga. "He's the kind of guy who goes out there
and gets the job done and he put the ball away when
he needed to."
The Mounties came
right back and struck in the 48th minute when Nico
Jimenez rattled a shot off both goalposts and past
Falcon sophomore goalkeeper
Diego
Millan (Paramount HS). Millan,
who got his fingertips on the shot, was unable to
stop the ball and it deflected into the goal.
Cerritos held off
a late Mountie surge, with Millan (five saves)
making a couple of critical saves. Mt. SAC had a
goal disallowed in the 84th minute due to an offside
call.
"That was a
well-officiated game and the fans got a chance to
watch some good, quality soccer," added Artiaga.
"We've beat them twice, but we have them one more
time."
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