Of the 77 California Community Colleges that play men's soccer, Cerritos College is the only team in the state that has yet to allow a goal. The Falcons (5-0-3) kept their shutout streak alive after their 4-0 South Coast Conference crossover win against visiting Pasadena City College. Cerritos will now start South Division play on Friday with a 2:00 p.m. game at El Camino College.
Leading 1-0 30 minutes into the first half, the Falcons saw the Lancers' (2-2-2) Christopher Munoz receive his second yellow card in the span of two minutes, which expelled him from the game and left Pasadena City with just 10 players for the remainder of the game.
Although Cerritos didn't score by the end of the first half, they continued to pressure Pasadena City and it paid off with a pair of goals in less than five minutes in the second half. In the 53rd minute, freshman Carlos Payeras (Lennox Acadeny HS) won the ball away from the Lancers and on the transition, he connected with sophomore Guy Carven (National Haitian Student Alliance HS). After receiving the ball, Carven, controlled the pass, made a quick turn toward the goal and fired a shot past a diving Andrew Espinoza.
The defensive press continued and the Falcons started wearing down the Lancers. Once again, Payers found himself with the ball after a deft defensive play, and he spotted freshman Leonel Perez (St. John Bosco HS) streaking down the left side. His pass landed right on the foot of Perez, who laced a shot into the far side of the net. Cerritos closed out the scoring in the 77th minute when sophomore Jose Rivera (Torrance HS) was pulled down in the box for a penalty kick. He stepped up and converted the kick for a 4-0 lead.
Sophomore goalkeeper Hernan Perez (Pioneer HS), making just his second start of the season, turned away five shots for a shutout. He kept the Lancers off the board with a trio of magnificent first half saves. He turned away Marlon Flores with a diving save to his right and stoned Bryce Watson by deflecting the ball away as it was heading under the crossbar.
Photos by Daryl Peterson
