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Photo by
Juan Velez.
Rivals collide - The Cerritos women's
soccer team outlasted Mt. SAC in an
overtime playoff game Saturday. Next up:
State tournament at College of the
Canyons. |
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After the first 90
minutes of their Southern California Regional
Playoff third round game, the Cerritos College
women's soccer team not only found themselves in a
scoreless tie against rival Mt. San Antonio College,
they were dealt a blow when sophomore
Monique
Cisneros (Mayfair HS) was
injured and could be lost for the season. Cisneros,
who has scored a school-record 36 goals this season,
was tackled from behind by Mountie defender Melina
Barragan just outside the box in the final minute of
regulation. Barragan, who was issued a red card,
forced Cisneros out of the game with an injury, as
the game was going into overtime.
Playing with a
one-player advantage due to the red card, the
top-ranked Falcons scored three times in overtime to
post a 3-0 win, sending them to the state
tournament, which will be held on Friday and Sunday
at College of the Canyons. Cerritos (20-0-4) ranked
#1 in Southern California, is also the top-ranked
team in the nation and are the defending state
champions.
"I just hope the
injury to Monique isn't as serious as we originally
think it might be," said head coach
Ruben
Gonzalez. "We knew this would be a
tough game and Mt. SAC has been trying to beat us
for four years. But every game has been big for us
because everyone is out to beat us. Last year we
were the underdog and now we are the favorite. We
have two more wins to complete our goal and we are
excited that we get to continue to play."
On the play,
Cisneros stole the ball and was heading toward the
goal, where she was tackled hard from behind just
outside the 18-yard box. After Cisneros came off the
field, Cerritos was awarded a free kick, where
freshman
Salina
Flores (Los Alamitos HS) saw
her kick go on net. Mountie goalkeeper Alexandra
Gomez gave up a rebound and it appeared that
sophomore
Tara
Corcoran (Bonita HS/Cal State Long
Beach) sent the rebound into the net, but the
official ruled that she was offside and the goal was
disallowed, sending the game to two 15-minute
overtime sessions.
It was the second
goal in the game that Corcoran thought she had
scored. In the 66th minute, sophomore
Betty
Cornejo (Bellflower HS) sent a
beautiful ball on a corner kick right to Corcoran,
who headed the ball. Her shot hit the
crossbar, moved the top of the net and appeared to
land inside the goal, but the official ruled that
the entire ball did not go into the net.
Playing one man
short in overtime, the Mounties could not handle the
offensive pressure put on by Cerritos, who had six
shots in the extra 30 minutes and 19 on the game.
Just five minutes into overtime, sophomore
Alyesse Orr
(St. Joseph HS), who just checked into the
game, rushed the ball up the sideline and lifted a
shot into a group of players. Sophomore
Elba
Menjivar (Monroe HS/Pasadena City
College) headed the ball with her 4-foot-11
frame to freshman
Nadia
Gonzalez (Hawthorne HS), who
sent her header into the net for the game's first
goal.
Obviously
frustrated, the Mounties looked to try and stop the
offensive onslaught by the Falcons, but sophomore
Corina Villegas (Perris HS)
was not to be denied. After taking control of a
loose ball, Villegas maneuvered through the defense
and past the final defender, Michelle Nava, toward
the goal. With Gomez coming out to try and get to
the ball first, Villegas won the race and chipped
the ball over Gomez's head for a goal and 2-0
advantage.
With Gomez out of
the game after a red card in the second overtime
session, the second Mountie goalkeeper, Julie Scott,
was also given a red card after touching the ball
with her hands outside the box on a breakaway for
the Falcons. Sophomore
Desiree
Cardenas (West Covina HS) send
a pass from midfield to Menjivar who was trying to
beat Scott to the ball. Although Menjivar scored on
the play, the official ruled that the touched ball
by the keeper's hand outside the 18-yard box, which
is an automatic red card, was called before the
goal. Corcoran stepped up and scored on a penalty
kick against the third Mt. SAC goal.
"This was a tough
win for us, but we did a good job defensively, which
we need to do if we are to advance toward our
ultimate goal," added Gonzalez. "If we have to play
without Monique, we have a few things that we can do
and we'll address those in the next few days. We
missed out on a few opportunities and basically had
three goals disallowed in the game. We're a much
more experienced team than last year (one sophomore)
and this team knows what to expect. They will be
ready."
1st
2nd OT F
Mt. San Antonio
0 0
0 0
Cerritos
0 0
3 3
Scoring:
Mt. San Antonio:
None
Cerritos: Nadia
Gonzalez (95th minute; Elba Menjivar assist), Corina
Villegas (98th minute; unassisted), Tara Corcoran
(112th minute; penalty kick).
Shots on Goal:
Mt. San Antonio: 10
Cerritos: 19
Keeper Saves:
Mt. San Antonio:
Alexandra Gomez - 9 saves; Julie Scott - 1 save
Cerritos: Chantal
Cervero - 3 saves (45 minutes); Tiffany Hollis - 5
saves (75 minutes)
Records:
Mt. San Antonio:
14-6-5 (Seeded 3rd)
Cerritos: 20-0-4
(Seeded 1st)
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