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By winning all four games at the
Merced Tournament over the weekend, the Cerritos College
men's water polo team has now won nine in a row since a
season--opening loss to top-rated Golden West College.
The Falcons (9-1) posted wins over Santa Rosa (20-16 in
overtime), Merced (13-9), Miramar (16-4) and the Merced
Masters (17-14), a club team. The four wins not only
extended their winning streak, it gave the Falcons the
tournament championship. They will get a test this
Wednesday when they travel to Long Beach City College
for a 4:15 p.m. game ageist the Vikings.
Freshman
Christian
Flores
(Montebello
HS)
set a new school record with 12 goals in the win over
Santa Rosa and now has 41 goals in just nine games. He
is on pace to shatter the single-season goal scoring
record of 103 goals by
Daniel Garcia,
set in 2001. Not only did Flores account for 12 of the
team's 20 goals in the win, he also assisted on five
goals, as did freshman
AJ Abrego
(El
Rancho HS).
Sophomore
Omar Ramirez
(Bell
Gardens HS)
chipped in with three goals and recorded four steals,
while freshman
Jimmy Quintana
(Montebello
HS)
accounted for two goals and five steals. Flores was not
as big a factor in the victory over Merced, scoring just
two goals, as Quintana led the way with four goals and
four steals. Sophomore
Placido Diaz
(Bell
Gardens HS)
added three goals, while freshman goalkeeper
Billy Smith
(Cypress
HS)
made five saves after recording seven in the first win.
The following day, the Falcons came
back with a solid defensive effort, limiting Miramar to
just four goals, while nine different goal scorers came
through for Cerritos. Everybody in uniform saw time in
the pool, as the freshman duo of
Steven Baughman
(Western
HS)
and
John Chao
(Cerritos
HS)
each scored three times to lead the team. Flores still
made an impact, as he recorded a team-high five assists,
while sophomore
Cory Pettis
(Warren
HS),
along with
Nick Yong
(Kennedy
HS)
and
Eddie Rodriguez
(Pioneer
HS)
each added two goals. The tournament was closed out when
Flores and Ramirez each scored six times to lead the
Falcons over the Merced club team. Diaz finished with
three goals, while Flores, Quintana and freshman
Torrence Lee
(Cerritos
HS)
each had three steals. Smith came up hung time and time
again in the victory, as he turned away 15 shots. |
