With a win and loss at the South Coast Conference Tournament on Friday, the Cerritos College women's water polo team will be playing for third place on Saturday. The Falcons (9-16), who are hosting the event, opened with a 4-2 win over Pasadena City College and then suffered a 16-4 setback against Mt. San Antonio College in the semifinal game. The team will host Chaffey College at 12:45 p.m. on Saturday for third place. In their only other meeting this season, the Panthers posted a 10-6 win.

In the battle against the Lancers, the Falcons opened a 2-1 lead at the end of the first period, thanks to goals from Vanessa Hinojosa (Bell Gardens HS) and Mikaela Padilla (Schurr HS). Pasadena City was able to tie the game in the second period, but the teams went scoreless in the third period.

Playing tight defense, Cerritos forced seven shot clock violations in the game, including three consecutive possessions against Pasadena City. Hinojosa broke the tie on a goal with 7:28 left in the fourth period. After a pair of Lancer turnovers, Padilla gave the team a 4-2 lead with 4:09 remaining. The team received a huge field block from Claudia Martinez (Roosevelt HS), with goalie Amanda Rabb (Gahr HS) recording six blocks in the win.

Offense was tough to come by against the Mounties, as it took until the fourth quarter to get on the board. It was a 15-0 Mt. SAC lead before Padilla finally scored, with Hinojosa scoring twice and Jenny Parra (Schurr HS) adding another goal in the loss.

Photos by Daryl Peterson