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Photo by Juan Velez.
The Falcons finish undefeated at the tournament after defeating Fullerton (10-9) and Orange Coast College (8-6). |
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On the strength of
two close wins on Saturday after a pair of victories
on Friday, the Cerritos College men's water polo
team won their half of the Golden West Tournament,
which was played in the new Falcon Aquatic Center.
The Falcons (15-9) posted wins over Fullerton (10-9)
and Orange Coast (8-6), which will help them in
their upcoming South Coast Conference Tournament,
which takes place November 5-7 at Chaffey College.
"We had a great
tournament," said head coach
Joe Abing.
"After our win over Fullerton, we only had a
two-game rest before playing Orange Coast. Both
teams have big wins this year over state-ranked
teams, and this creates positive momentum for us
going into our conference tournament."
In the win over
Fullerton, freshman
Jon Canizales (Whittier HS)
scored the eventual game-winning goal in the fourth
quarter, as the Falcons trailed 7-6 heading into the
final eight minutes of play. Freshman PJ Gabayeron
(Cerritos HS) scored three times and posted
a season-high seven steals, while sophomore
Cory Baccus (Whittier HS)
contributed three goals and a pair of assists.
Freshman
goalkeeper
Justin
Calderon (El Rancho HS),
who Abing described as "outstanding" in both games,
posted nine saves, several of which kept the Falcons
in contention for the win. In fact, Calderon made 13
saves against Orange Coast, as Cerritos never
trailed against the Pirates.
Gabayeron accounted
for three goals and registered seven more steals,
while Baccus and sophomore
Pat Muniz
(Santa Fe HS) each chipped in with a pair
of goals. Muniz also led the team with a pair of
assists and had two steals.
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