As they continue to progress through the season, the Cerritos College men's water polo has maintained their tradition of utilizing every player's scoring ability. At the Southwestern Tournament on Saturday, the Falcons (4-0) posted wins over the host Jaguars (20-7), Grossmont College (18-14) and San Diego Miramar College (18-10) with 16 of the 17 position players scoring at least one goal. The team will now compete in the Golden West Tournament next weekend and will open with Saddleback College at 9:50 a.m. on Friday.
Cerritos vs. Southwestern: Early on, it was a close 2-2 game until the Falcons scored the final three goals of the first period to take a 5-2 lead, with three different players scoring. A five-goal outburst in the second period, with sophomore Joey Hurtado (Cerritos HS) accounting for two of the goals allowed Cerritos to start pulling away. They held an 11-4 advantage at intermission and then came out in the second half and scored five unanswered goals, as freshman Emiliano Cuara (La Habra HS) provided three of the tallies. Another strong fourth period closed out Southwestern. The Falcons had 11 players score at least one goal, with Cuara leading the way with four, while freshman Dominic Hernandez (Schurr HS) finished with three. The freshmen duo of Owen Fahringer (Long Beach Wilson HS) and Rene Borja (Schurr HS) each saw action in goal and combined for six saves.
Cerritos vs Grossmont: Always an exciting and competitive match when these two schools face off against each other, the Falcons trailed after the first period for the first time all season. Trailing 4-3 heading into the second period, the two teams traded goals until Cerritos put three straight past the keeper for a 7-5 advantage with sophomores Hurtado, Juan Anguiano (Kennedy HS) and Mario Vanzillotta (Colegio Palas, Brazil) providing the offense. Clinging to a 12-10 lead late in the third period, Vanzillotta and Hernandez each scored, while the Griffins added to their total in the final minute with Cerritos taking a 14-11 advantage into the final eight minutes. Tough defense, combined with quick strike offense allowed the Falcons to score the first four goals in the fourth period for an 18-11 lead, with Hernandez recording two of the goals. The final three goals by Grossmont brought them to within four by the final buzzer. Hernandez and Vanzillotta each scored five times, with Hurtado chipping in with three. Fahringer was strong in goal and turned away eight shots, while he also added three steals.
Cerritos vs. San Diego Miramar: In their final game of the tournament, the Falcons made sure they started faster and had a 6-1 lead after eight minutes and held a 9-3 advantage at intermission. Six different scorers accounted for the offense in the first period. By the end of the game, 11 players scored for Cerritos, with Hernandez and Anguiano leading the way with three each, with Vanzillotta, Hurtado and sophomore Ben Neppl (Long Beach Millikan HS/Long Beach City College) each scoring twice. Borja played the entire game in goal and picked up the win by making eight saves.