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On their journey
to the state championship last year, the Cerritos
College men's soccer team defeated rival Mt. San
Antonio College four times, including a 1-0 decision
in the championship game. In their first meeting
since that game, the Mounties pulled out a 2-1 South
Coast Conference win over the Falcons, which snapped
their 15-game unbeaten streak (15-0-1) in a crucial
contest. Cerritos (6-1-1, 0-1-0) will look to
rebound when they host Pasadena City College at 2:00
p.m. Friday in another SCC game.
Down 1-0 after a Mountie
goal in the 25th minute, the Falcons tied the game
in the 37th minute on a great individual play by
All-American
Luis
Gonzales (Long Beach Millikan HS),
who took on two Mt. SAC players then sent a cross to
freshman
Ruben
Gonzalez (Artesia HS), who put
a slight flick on the ball and redirected it into
goal.
"While it's our
first lost of the season, I truly believe we will grow
from this," said head coach Benny Artiaga. "We
played extremely well in the first half and won almost
all facets of the game. But unfortunately we did not
capitalize on our opportunities. Mt. SAC played very
well in the second half and we didn't do a good job of
regrouping after their second goal."
That second goal came in the 62nd minute, which forced the
team to open up their offense even more. Although they
are one of the fastest teams in the state, Cerritos also
saw that the Mounties were very fast and they countered
what the Falcons looked to create. Freshman goalkeeper Jhovanny
Hernandez (Huntington Beach HS)
allowed both goals and suffered the loss, while making
four saves. |
