Heading into their South Coast Conference South Division game, the Cerritos College men's soccer team knew that as long as they kept winning, they would be a lock for the Southern California Regional Playoffs. Those chances took a serious blow on Friday when they dropped a 1-0 decision to host Long Beach City College. With two games remaining in their regular season, the Falcons (7-7-5, 3-1-2) slipped into a tie for second place in the division with ECC Compton Center, with the Vikings (5-8-6, 4-2-1) taking over first place. The team will host fourth place Los Angeles Harbor College at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday and finish up with a 3:00 p.m. game at last place El Camino College next Friday.
Playing without two of their starters, Cerritos was locked in a scoreless draw midway into the second half. In the 70th minute, Long Beach City struck when Jorge Garcia got a shot into the far post and past sophomore goalkeeper Ivan Martin Del Campo (Granada Hills Kennedy HS). The Falcons were missing sophomore defender Ivan Vazquez (Fullerton HS), who received a red card in the previous game, as well as speedy forward Marc Calderon (Elizabeth Learning Center HS).
Looking to make things happen, freshman Luis Garcia (La Habra HS) was able to get five shots on goal, with freshman Carlos Escobedo (South Gate HS) adding three shots against Vikings goalkeeper Saul Ocampo. Four of his nine saves came after the LBCC goal, including three from Garcia. A last-chance header by freshman Hector Jimenez (South East HS) was the final save of the game, with the Falcons coming up short.