A two-time 2nd Team All-South Coast Conference South Division selection, Cerritos College midfielder Mayela Medina (Harbor Teacher Prep Academy HS) has signed with Cal State Dominguez Hills. Medina is the third Falcon to make her decision following her community college career, and joins Sydney Carr (Seattle University) and Jennifer Lopez (Delta State (MS) University). Eight more sophomores are looking to make their final choice on where they will transfer.
"I choose Cal State Dominguez Hills because they have a great soccer program and my major, which is physical therapy," said Medina, who combined to account for eight goals and eight assists in her Cerritos career. "I took a recruiting trip and that is when I knew Dominguez was for me because of the how the coaching staff welcomed me and showed me that they will help me reach all my goals. I was considering other schools, but after my visit I was stuck on CSUDH."
One of Medina's (pictured, left with head coach Ruben Gonzalez) strengths on a team full of talented players was her speed and tenacity. Although she wasn't asked to provide scoring (she scored 45 goals as a senior in high school), the intangibles she did provide impressed Cerritos head coach Ruben Gonzalez, who put her name down in the starting lineup 36 times in the 44 games in which she played.
"MJ is a tireless worker who's a quiet leader that leads by example," said Gonzalez. "She's a very good student in the classroom. MJ is able to play many position and we asked her to be more of a defender this year. She made the players around her better and will continue to do so at Dominguez Hills. MJ is able to make other players better because of her work rate. She will push her teammates to be better."
Medina scored the team's lone goal on a penalty kick in their 1-1 playoff match against San Bernardino Valley College that went to penalty kicks and eventually ended their perfect season. As a freshman, Medina scored twice in her first collegiate game, while she also scored twice in one game against Compton College and produced three assists in another match against them.
"What I will remember the most about Cerritos is how encouraging my teammates were no matter how early we had to be up or how hard practices were," added Medina. "We always had each other's back. Going to Cerritos prepared me to move on to a four-year school by really pushing me both mentally and physically in ways I have never been pushed before. By that, I gained confidence, discipline and learned to appreciate the sport in different ways and I will always be thankful for that. I will also make sure to apply everything I was taught here to my Dominguez Hills team."
Medina will be joining at Toros team that went 3-10-4 last season and are losing four players to graduation, while the team was a freshman-laden squad. She will be asked to add to a team's offensive output after accounting for just nine total goals from three players in 2018.