Trailing
7-2
in
the
second
quarter
of
their
game
against
Riverside
Community
College
in
their
second
game
of
the
day
at
the
state
championships
at
Merced
College
on
Friday,
the
Cerritos
College
women's
water
polo
team
was
faced
with
their
largest
deficit
of
the
season.
Proving
that
they
belonged,
the
Falcons
closed
their
deficit
to
9-7
by
halftime
before
coming
away
with
a
thrilling
12-11
win
over
the
defending
state
champions.
With
the
win,
Cerritos
won
their
three-team
bracket
with
a
2-0
record
(they
defeated
American
River
College,
8-4
earlier
in
the
day),
which
advances
them
to
the
state
championship
game
on
Saturday
at
noon.
They
will
play
the
winner
of
the
Long
Beach
City
College-Santa
Rosa
College
winner,
as
the
winner
of
their
game
on
Friday
at
noon
will
give
them
the
win
in
their
bracket.
Cerritos
has
faced
cross-town
rival
Long
Beach
City
three
times
this
season
and
defeated
them
twice
before
losing
to
the
Vikings,
8-7
in
the
semi-final
game
of
the
Southern
California
Regional
Championships
a
week
ago.
The
Falcons
lost
a
6-5
game
to
Santa
Rosa
at
the
Chaffey
Tournament
back
in
September.
Clinging
to
their
12-11
lead
late
in
the
game
after
freshman
Adriana
Rodriguez
(El
Rancho
HS)
put
the
team
up
with
a
long
goal,
the
Falcon
defense
prevented
the
Tigers
from
getting
a
shot
on
their
last
possession
of
the
game.
After
a
timeout,
Cerritos
was
able
to
run
out
the
clock
for
the
win.
Sophomore
All-American
Stephanie
Rosero
(Downey
HS)
scored
a
game-high
five
goals,
while
Rodriguez
added
three
and
freshman
Natalie
Peng
(Cerritos
HS)
contributed
a
pair
of
goals.
Playing
another
solid
game
in
goal
was
freshman
Miranda
Bakke
(Gahr
HS),
who
made
nine
saves.
