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The
Cerritos College men’s water polo team entered the Cal
Lutheran Tournament this weekend knowing they would be
facing four-year colleges in each of their matches. They
didn’t let that deter them, as they won all four games
to run their season record to 7-2. The Falcons opened
with an 11-5 win over Whittier College, followed by a
tough 6-4 victory over Mercyhurst College. On the next
day, they defeated Concordia University, 12-11 and
rounded out the tournament with a 10-5 victory over the
University of LaVerne. Cerritos will now resume South
Coast Conference action on Wednesday when they travel to
Mt. San Antonio College.
In the opening
win over Whittier, nine different players scored for the
Falcons who trailed 2-1 after the first period. In the
second stanza, a quartet of players scored, while the
defense held the Poets scoreless. Cerritos continued to
take control of the match in the second half, as they
outscored Whittier, 6-3 to record the win. Sophomore
Jimmy
Quintana (Montebello HS) and freshman
Chris
Argueta (Cathedral HS) each scored twice,
with eight different players registering at least one
assist. Freshman
Michael
Villalobos (Whittier HS) led the team
with two helpers, while the team’s trio of goalkeepers
all saw action.
Defense was once
again the driving force for the team in the win over
Mercyhurst. After an action-filled first period, in
which Cerritos took a 4-3 lead on goals by sophomores
AJ Abrego
(El Rancho HS),
Chris
Jimenez (Bell Gardens HS/Golden West JC)
and Jose
Aguirre (Downey HS), along with freshman
Louie
Espinoza (Montebello HS), the match was
tied 4-4 at halftime. The Falcons received a goal from
Quintana with 5:37 left in the third period, while
Argueta tacked on an insurance goal with eight seconds
left in the period for a 6-4 lead. Neither team scored
in the fourth period, while sophomore goalkeeper
Alan Nevarez
(Downey HS/Long Beach City College) recorded 11
saves in the win.
Against
Concordia, the team received three goals from both
Abrego and freshman
Dan Biag
(Cerritos HS) to post the victory. Abrego was
also in on three other goals, as he recorded assists,
while Nevarez was huge in the net, finishing with 11
saves and added four steals. Quintana chipped in with
two goals, while sophomore
Torrence Lee
(Cerritos HS) and freshman
Ryan Tamula
(Cerritos HS) each had two steals.
The Falcons
jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead over LaVerne in the final
game of the tournament and cruised to the victory.
Argueta led the team with three goals, with two of them
coming in the fourth period, while sophomore
John Chao
(Cerritos HS) added two goals. Sophomore
goalkeeper
Billy Smith (Cypress HS) finished with
six saves, while freshman
Josh Del
Toro (Pioneer HS) added five saves in the
win. On defense Jimenez posted three steals, while the
offense had seven different players score goals. |
