After getting to within on game of advancing to
the state tournament, the Cerritos College men's
soccer team has announced that 10 players from
their team have signed with four-year
universities. The Falcons, who concluded the
season ranked #2 in the nation for the second
year in a row, posted a 19-3-2 record and were
the second place team out of the South Coast
Conference.
On the heels of being named the National Soccer
Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Player of
the Year, forward Luis Gonzalez
(Long Beach Millikan HS) has signed
with Cal Poly Pomona. He is one of six Cerritos
players who inked with the Broncos, who are
graduating 13 seniors. Joining him will be
defender Fabian Perez (Bellflower
HS), goalkeeper Anthony Iniquez
(Animo HS) and midfielder Juan
Mejia (Paramount HS).
Additionally, defender Paul Montalvo
(La Sierra HS) and midfielder
Salvador Melendrez (Long Beach
Millikan HS) have verbally committed, but
will not attend until next season. All are
sophomores except Iniquez, who will have three
years to play at Cal Poly Pomona.
As a sophomore, Gonzalez set new school records
with 27 goals, 18 assists and 72 points to lead
the Falcons in all three categories. For his
career, Gonzalez amassed 51 goals and 35 assists
for 137 points and was named the conference's
Player of the Year. He, along with the other
sophomores who have signed, led Cerritos to the
state championship their freshman seasons.
Joining Gonzalez as a 1st Team All-West Regional
All-American is Perez, one of the team's most
accomplished defenders in school history. He
scored two goals on the year and assisted on
four, while Mejia added five goals and three
assists. Another gifted defender, Montalvo
scored twice on the year while Melendrez added
three tallies. Iniquez shared the goalkeeping
duties with two others and appeared in four
games on the year. He had a 3-0-1 record with a
1.00 goals against average and one shutout.
Signing with Chapman University was goalkeeper
Pedro Velazquez (Colegio-Metropolotano,
Guatemala), who served as a red-shirt last
year, while Stephane Mongu (Hamilton
HS), who missed all of last season with an
injury, inked with Cal State Dominguez Hills.
Defender Erik Melendez (Foshay
Learning Center HS) signed with Kansas
Wesleyan University, with defender Pedro
Chavez (Cabrillo HS) signing
with the University of Great Falls in Montana.
As a freshman, Velazquez posted a 7-2 record
with an 0.85 goals against average, while Mongu
was a 2nd Team All-SCC pick his freshman
campaign. He scored seven goals and added four
assists for the Falcons. For Melendez, he played
in 15 games and didn't record any points, but
was a key member of the team in his ability to
shut down opposing players, as was Chavez, who
picked up three assists on the year.
Another member of the 2009 team, Timmy Seo
(Los Alamitos HS) narrowed his
college choices to either UC San Diego or UC
Irvine and decided to sign with UC San Diego. A converted defender, Seo was a 1st Team
All-West Regional All-American and 1st Team
All-SCC pick as a sophomore after playing as a
midfielder his freshman year.
Additionally, Rickey Reyes and
Juan Huerta from the 2008 season
have committed to schools. Reyes, who was a 2nd
Team All-SCC pick as a sophomore, will be
joining his teammate at Cal Poly Pomona, while
Mejia will be playing at Cal State Los Angeles.
