After concluding the regular in second place in the South Coast Conference, the Cerritos College men's soccer team has been seeded #2 for the Southern California Regional Playoffs. The Falcons (15-2-4), who are the defending CCCAA State Champions and United Soccer Coaches National Champion, will be hosting #15-seeded Cuyamaca College at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. The Coyotes (11-5-5) are the champion of the Pacific Coast Conference. This will also be the second season in a row the two teams will be meeting in the first round of the playoffs. Cerritos posted a 3-0 win last year on their way to the title.
Ticket prices for the game are $12 general admission, except for all identified students, faculty, staff, senior citizens ago 60 and over, and children less than 12 years old, will be $8.
Additionally, this will also be the second meeting of the year between the two teams, with Cerritos recording a 6-2 on the El Cajon campus back on September 20. In that game, the Falcons led 2-0 after the first seven minutes and scored four times in the first half. Sophomore Kevin Diaz (Connections Academy HS) recorded a hat trick, while sophomore Dominic Valdivia (Loyola HS/Creighton University) accounted for a pair of goals. Juan Barragan scored both of the goals for Cuyamaca.
Diaz and sophomore Bryan Ortega (Paramount HS) are tied for the team lead with 15 goals each, with sophomore Bryan Villalobos (Salesian HS) accounting for four goals. As a team, the Falcons have had 12 different goal scorers, with three other players posting trio of goals on the season. Diaz is also the team leader in assists with 13, which ranks third in the state, with Bryan Perez (Simon Rodia HS) recording seven on the year. Cerritos has also received offensive help from their defense, as they have accumulated six goals and 11 assists. Freshman Luis Enciso (Gahr HS) has seen the majority of action in goal, and has posted a 10-2-4 record with an 0.78 goals against average with 57 saves.
For the Coyotes, they have been paced by Barragan, who leads the state with 26 goals, which accounts for 47% of their team goals. He's posted three hat tricks on the season, which also includes a four-goal game against Imperial Valley College. Richard Recinos has produced seven goals and six assists for Cuyamaca, while Daniel Estrada (four goals) and Emerson Trujillo (three goals, five assist) have also produced this season. Christopher Westover has taken over the goalkeeping duties and has recorded a 10-2-2 record with a 1.12 goals against average. Angel Cazares was in goal in the first meeting between the teams and surrendered all six goals.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL PLAYOFFS (Revised)
Saturday, November 23
#16 Norco (8-7-4) @ #1 Mt. San Antonio (18-0-3)
#9 Santa Ana (10-6-4) @ #8 Santa Barbara City (10-4-5)
#13 Cypress (10-4-6) @ #4 El Camino (12-2-5)
#12 Irvine Valley (8-7-7) @ #5 Orange Coast (12-3-5)
#15 Cuyamaca (11-5-5) @ #2 CERRITOS (15-2-4)
#10 Chaffey (12-5-4) @ #7 Golden West (8-3-9)
#14 Bakersfield (10-7-3) @ #3 Fullerton (11-6-4)
#11 College of the Desert (11-8-2) @ #6 Oxnard (15-3-3)