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Photo by
Juan Velez.
Dan Biag led the team with four goals
and three steels to help Cerritos defeat
the Alumni team Tuesday afternoon. |
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For the first time
in many years, the Cerritos College men's water polo
team went up against a group of former players in a
non-conference game that was played on Tuesday
afternoon. After the close 17-13 win by the current
Falcons, it explains why the program is reluctant to
schedule the game. Cerritos (22-6 overall), ranked
#5 in the state, will now enter the South Coast
Conference Tournament, which will take place
November 6-8 at Pasadena City College. The Falcons
will enter the tournament as the #2-seeded team.
From the outset,
the game was tight and Cerritos had trouble shaking
off the pesky former players which was comprised of
mainly players who played for head coach
Joe Abing,
who is in his sixth season. In fact, two of the
alumni players were his assistant coaches,
goalkeeper Elliot Cowens and field
player Mike Kim, who led the alumni
with three goals.
The Falcons held a
close 6-4 lead after the first quarter, with six
different players scoring. The game was as close as
a 7-6 Cerritos lead before freshman
Cory
Baccus (Whittier HS) scored a
pair of goals, followed by a tally from sophomore
Adam Arambula (Kennedy HS),
which gave the Falcons a 10-6 lead. Alumni
Sean Gutierrez scored right before halftime
for a 10-7 Cerritos lead.
Another three-goal
outburst in the third quarter once again turned a
tight game into one in which the Falcons could enjoy
a little breathing room. Sophomore
Ryan
Tamula (Cerritos HS) scored
first before sophomore
Miguel
Villalobos (Whittier HS)
scored twice, which gave the Falcons a 14-8 edge.
Sophomore
Dan Biag
(Cerritos HS) led the team with four goals
and three steals, with Baccus (three goals, two
assists) and Villalobos (three goals) also providing
offense. Tamula and freshman
Jesse
Paredes (Whittier HS) each
totaled three steals, while the goalkeeping duo of
sophomores
Ian
Pawlowski (La Serna HS) and
Josh Del Toro (Pioneer HS)
combined for 11 saves.
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