W. Soccer: Three-goal first half leads Falcons to win

File Photo: Graciela Lopez scored once for the Falcons in their win
File Photo: Graciela Lopez scored once for the Falcons in their win

The Cerritos College women's soccer team scored three first half goals, which helped propel them to a 4-1 South Coast Conference win at El Camino College on Friday. The victory improved the Falcons record to 11-0-2 overall and 6-0-0, while it also extends their unbeaten streak to 31 games (29-0-2), dating back to last season. The team will now host ECC Compton Center (1-11-1, 0-6-0) at 4:00 p.m. next Tuesday.

In the win over the Warriors (3-6-4, 2-2-2), freshman Amber Whitmore (Los Alamitos HS) saw her shot go thorough the goalkeeper's hands off a crossing pass from Jamie Peters (Bishop Amat HS) in the eighth minute for an early Falcon lead. Just 14 minutes later, Cerritos opened up a 2-0 lead on a Carolina Jaramillo (Cetis 58, Tijuana HS) goal. The offensive pressure started when Jaramillo got off a shot that was blocked by an ECC field player. Not giving up on the play, Jaramillo jumped on the loose ball and chipped the ball in for her sixth goal of the season.

Before the end of the first half, the Falcons added to their lead. After being called for offside, Cerritos regained possession of the ball and began their attack. The ball was sent toward the goal, where a scamble led to freshman Jackie Garcia (Paramount HS) feeding freshman Graciela Lopez (Downey HS) the ball, and she was able to push the ball into the net.

The Falcons closed out their scoring in the 63rd minute on a successful penalty kick by sophomore Victoria Hernandez (Warren HS/UC Irvine). The Warriors were called for a foul that resulted in a red card and penalty shot, which was converted by Hernandez for her second goal of the year.

Freshman goalkeeper Ruby Nichols (Bishop Amat HS) played the first 69 minutes of the game before coming out in favor of freshman Cyndie Trejo (Artesia HS). El Camino was able to end the shutout with a goal in the 90th minute.