Coming off what many would see as a strong win over Imperial Valley College on Tuesday, Cerritos College men's soccer head coach Benny Artiaga much prefers the game played by his team Friday. The Falcons registered a 3-1 win over Hartnell College in the first game of the Hartnell Tournament. The Panthers (1-1-0) reached the state championship game last season and Artiaga told his team they would need to play much better than their last game, a 4-0 win over Imperial Valley College.
"We had an outstanding game and set the tone right away," stated Artiaga. "The was a statement game, as Hartnell is a quality opponent. I was very pleased by the play of Alfredo Ortiz (Oscar De La Hoya HS/East Los Angeles College) and Pablo Caparelli (Real Salt Lake Academy, UT HS)."
Cerritos jumped right out and took a quick 2-0 lead just five minutes into the game. In the fourth minute, sophomore Enrique Penate (Downtown Magnet HS) got the team on the board on a pass from Ortiz, while it was Ortiz who made it a 2-0 advantage a minute later. Caparelli teamed with Ortiz for the goal, which put Hartnell on their heels for most of the game.
It was a 3-0 lead in the 35th minute after Caparelli was fouled in the 18-yard box and converted the penalty kick. The Cerritos defense was then tasked with holding off the Panthers in the second half. Hartnell broke up the shutout in the 73rd minute, but the duo of Juan Pablo Camacho (Norwalk HS) and Steven Ruiz (Cathedral HS) played well enough to allow the Falcons to register the win.
Cerritos takes on Fresno City College at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday in the championship game.