Given more offensive responsibilities, freshman Stephanie Nava (Shadow Ridge, NV HS) capitalized on it by scoring all three goals in a 3-0 South Coast Conference South Division win over El Camino College. The Falcons (14-1-1, 4-0-0), ranked #4 in the country, have won 10 games in a row and will travel to Compton College for a 4:00 p.m. divisional game on Friday.
Nava, who now has seven goals on the season and goals in three of the last four games, opened the scoring in the seventh minute. On the play, Nava got off the first shot against Warriors (9-8-1, 3-3-0) goalkeeper Isabel Rojas, which was turned away. But Nava was given a second chance when she gathered the rebound and chipped the ball in for her first of three straight goals.
Just six minutes later, freshman Mia Ramirez (Torrance HS), who assisted on two of the goals, pushed the ball into El Camino territory on one of many offensive chances for the Falcons on the day. After drawing an extra defender, she crossed a pass to Nava on the left side and she converted the play into another goal.
Although they didn't score their final goal until the 88th minute, Cerritos could have easily scored six more goals, but were turned away by Rojas, who made 12 saves in the game. She made diving stops against Ramirez, Nava, Elizabeth Mendez (Long Beach Millikan HS) and Brianna Yepez (Paramount HS), while Itzel Ballesteros (Maywood Academy HS) hit the goal post in the 64th minute and Mayela Medina hit the crossbar in the 71st minute.
The final goal came when Ramirez controlled a bounce pass that the El Camino defense tried to clear. Turning the pressure back on El Camino, Ramirez brought the ball in deep and crossed a pass to Nava, who completed her natural hat trick.
Photos by Daryl Peterson
