|
After a couple of
exciting wins propelled them to the finals of the
South Coast Conference championship match, the
Cerritos College men's water polo team came up short
in a 13-10 decision to Long Beach City College in
the finals on Saturday. The Falcons (17-10), who
defeated Los Angeles Trade-Tech College (16-2) and
Mt. San Antonio College (12-11 in overtime) in the
first two games on Friday, have now advanced to the
Southern California Regional Playoffs, which start
on Wednesday at Pasadena City College.
In the overtime
win over the Mounties, it marked the third in as
many years the two teams played a one-goal match in
the conference tournament. Last year, Cerritos was
upset by Mt. SAC, but came away with the win this
season. It also avenged a 14-6 loss in conference
play, while the Falcons also own a 10-9 win over the
Mounties in the Golden West Tournament. After
falling behind 3-1 after the first quarter and
trailed 5-4 at intermission, Cerritos took an 8-7
lead heading into the fourth quarter. But the team
was unable to score in the fourth, with Mt. SAC
tying the game to send it to overtime.
In the two extra
periods, both teams traded goals until the Falcon
defense was able to hold and come away with the win.
Freshman PJ Gabayeron (Cerritos
HS) scored a team-high four goals and also
assisted on three others, with sophomore
Cory Baccus (Whittier HS) adding
three goals. Freshman goalkeeper
Justin
Calderon (El Rancho HS) made nine
saves in the victory.
The tournament
opened with the Falcons easily defeating Los Angeles
Trade-Tech, as freshman
Luke Lamphear
(Downey HS) led the team with four goals,
while a trio of players scored three times.
Shaun Farnell (Pacifica
HS),
Joe Joson (St.
John Bosco HS) and
Matt Mendoza
(La Serna HS) all added three goals,
while Joson assisted on three more and Mendoza led
the team with four steals. Calderon posted 12 saves
and added a pair of steals for Cerritos.
|
