In their second week of action, the Cerritos College men's water polo team won one of their four games at the Golden West Tournament. The Falcons (5-3) opened with a 12-6 win over Palomar College, but then suffered losses to the host Rustlers (15-6), Long Beach City College (8-5) and Los Angeles Valley College (13-10). The team will now get an 11-day rest before opening South Coast Conference play on September 18 in a 4:15 p.m. match at El Camino College.
Cerritos vs. Palomar: The Falcons scored the first nine goals of the game before the Comets got on the board in the third period. Five different goal scorers helped the team to take the 9-0 advantage, with sophomore Kevin Elizarraraz (Buena Park HS) leading the way with three goals. The duo of freshmen Jose Hurtado (Cerritos HS) and Mario Vanzillotta each scored twice in that span, with Hurtado adding a fourth period goal. Sophomore Rodrigo Baca (Kennedy HS) dished out three assists, while the duo of goalkeepers Zachary Jenkins (La Serna HS) and Nate Pineda (La Mirada HS) combined for 12 saves in the match.
Cerritos vs. Golden West: In the first period, the Rustlers came out strong and scored five times before Elizarraraz stopped that trend. The two teams traded goals in the second and third periods, while the Falcons were unable to find the net in the fourth period. Elizarraraz had two goals, with four others scoring once. Freshmen Brian Luque-Gutierrez and Seamus MacDonald (Long Beach Millikan HS) each recorded a pair of assists, while MacDonald and sophomore Mateo Fernandez (St. John Bosco HS) each drew five exclusions in the physical matchup. Jenkins recorded seven stops.
Cerritos vs. Long Beach City: After taking a quick 1-0 lead on a goal by Vanzillotta, the Falcons saw their conference rival score the next three goals. MacDonald made it a 3-2 match with his second period goal, but once again, it was the Vikings who scored goals in bunches. An early third period goal made it a 7-2 match, before Elizarraraz and Baca each scored to get to within 7-4 with 7:45 left in the match. That's as close as the Falcons would get in their three-goal loss. Jenkins was superb in net at times and turned away 18 shots, with sophomore Nik Klimpfinger (Los Alamitos HS) leading the team with three steals.
Cerritos vs. Los Angeles Valley: Trailing 4-0 in the second quarter, the Falcons outscored the Monarchs, 6-3 to get to within 7-6 with 4:05 left in the third period. Fernandez and Eduardo Rodriguez (Buena Park HS) helped the team get back into the game with a pair of goals each. After a goal from MacDonald with 7:12 left in the match, the score was 10-8, but LA Valley was able to get three more shots past Jenkins to secure the win. Elizarraraz led the team with three goals, with Luque-Gutierrez posting five assists in the match. Jenkins finished with 11 saves.