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For the second time in as many years, the
Cerritos College women’s water polo team has won
consecutive championships at tournaments during the
regular season. The Falcons, who successfully defended
their titles at the San Diego Mesa and Pasadena City
tournaments, made it three in a row this past weekend by
sweeping the four teams they faced at the Citrus
Tournament. The four more victories increases their
winning streak to 16 games and it moves them closer to
tying their school record of 19 straight wins they
established last season. Cerritos (21-4), ranked #2 in
the state, will now resume South Coast Conference play
when they travel to Rio Hondo College for a 3:00 p.m.
contest.
At the
tournament, the Falcons opened with a 17-6 win over the
host Owls and then registered a 10-2 win over Fullerton
College. On the second day, they beat Pasadena City
College, 12-1, which was their third win over the
Lancers in seven days, before finishing off with a 15-3
win against Los Angeles Valley College.
Known for their
fast starts, Cerritos jumped out to a 6-0 first period
lead over Citrus and rolled the rest of the way. The
team got balanced scoring in the game, with freshman
Hannah Llamas
(Gahr HS) leading the team with four goals, while
a trio of players picked up three apiece. Sophomores
Vivian
Aguirre (Downey HS) and
Kimberly Diaz
(Bell Gardens HS) were joined by freshman
Jackie
Guerrero (Montebello HS) in scoring three
each, while sophomore
Ashley Badali
(Gahr HS) led the defense with four steals.
Freshmen
Stephanie Rosero (Downey HS) and
Denise Vega
(Montebello HS) each recorded three steals, while
sophomore goalkeeper
Sarah Kenny
(La Habra HS) made four saves, with freshman
Hannah
Pawlowski (La Serna HS) coming on in the
fourth period and stopped a shot.
Rosero was the
offensive star in the win over Fullerton, as she scored
five of the team’s 10 goals, as Cerritos led, 6-0 at
halftime. The Falcons were never threatened in the game,
as Guerrero chipped in with three goals, while Kenny
withstood a barrage of Hornet shots, making 14 saves.
Against Pasadena City, the team shut down the Lancers
offensive weapon, Lybov Tchougounova, who was held
scoreless. By contrast, eight different players scored
for the Falcons, with Aguirre leading the team with
three, while Vega picked up three steals. Once again,
Kenny was huge in goal, making 13 saves, but also
recording four steals and had a shutout going until PCC
scored with 3:13 left in the game.
Cerritos closed
out the tournament title by scoring seven unanswered
goals against the Monarchs in the first period, while
holding out several of their top players. The duo of
Llamas and freshman
Janelly
Castro (Bell Gardens HS) each scored
three times, with four different players picking up two
goals apiece. Pawlowski played the entire game in goal
and shut out LA Valley through the first half and
finished with five saves, |
