For the third year in a row, the Cerritos College men's water polo team squared off against rival Long Beach City College in the finals of the South Coast Conference Tournament. The teams split wins in the last two seasons, with the Vikings posting a 14-12 win over the Falcons (16-12, 4-3) on Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College. The team will find out on Sunday where they are seeded among the 10 teams that will advance to the Southern California Regional Playoffs, which will take place next weekend at Los Angeles Valley College.
Cerritos vs. Mt. San Antonio: After receiving a bye in the first round by being seeded #2, the Falcons defeated the host Mounties, 14-7 in the semifinals. The offense was effective in the first half, scoring five times in each of the first two periods to build a 10-4 lead at intermission. It was a 5-3 advantage heading into the second quarter and when the trio of Raul Muniz (Colbach HS, Mexico), Arturo Ortuno (Universidad La Salle, Mexico) and Dylan Sun (Cerritos HS) scored consecutive goals to give Cerritos an 8-3 advantage. The Falcons also used a three-goal spurt to swell their lead to 11-4 early in the second half and then cruised to the win, as they doubled up the Mounties. Ortuno led the team with five goals and four steals, with sophomore Salvador Orozco (Montebello HS) accounting for three goals. Muniz finished with two goals, with four other players scoring once. Sophomore goalkeeper Matthew Contreras (Montebello HS) played the first three quarters and posted 11 saves.
Cerritos vs. Long Beach City: In the conference championship game, the Falcons trailed, 9-6 at halftime, but a strong start to the third quarter put them in front. A pari of goals by sophomore Mark Arroyo (Schurr HS), the second coming with 1:49 left in the quarter, put Cerritos in the lead, 10-9. But the Vikings scored twice before the end of the quarter to take an 11-10 advantage, and after Sun tied the game on a goal with 6:59 remaining, LBCC scored three in a row to take the lead for good. Muniz scored with 1:38 remaining, but it turned out to be the final goal of the game and Cerritos came up short. Muniz led the team with five goals, with Arroyo scoring twice in the game. Sun (five steals), Ortuno (four steals) and Contreras (three steals), who had 12 saves, led the defense.