With a chance to maintain a share of first place in the South Coast Conference, the Cerritos College women's water polo team saw their loss on Wednesday against Mt. San Antonio College drop them into third place. The Falcons (11-7, 5-1) are one game behind Long Beach City College with one conference match remaining, while the Mounties jumped ahead of them into second place. After playing four games in the Battle at the Beach Tournament this weekend, Cerritos will take on the Vikings, with a win leaving all three teams tied for the regular season championship heading into the SCC Tournament.
The Falcons did get off 33 shots in the match, but many were off line, while Mt. SAC played a tight defense that caused the team to take ill-advised shots. It was a 4-4 match early in the second period, but the Mounties scored four of the final five goals before halftime to take an 8-5 lead. The start of the third period saw Cerritos surrender three straight goals and were never able to get things going on their way to the loss.
Freshman Kate De La Mora (Schurr HS) converted just three of her nine shots into goals, with five other players scoring once for the Falcons. Freshman Mayra Olivas (Montebello HS) did a fine job on defense, as she led the team with six steals, with freshman Lizbeth Ramirez (Sunny Hills HS) accounting for four steals. Sophomore Lizbeth Gomez (Schurr HS) scored just once on her seven shots, while she also added three steals and added to her state-leading assist total with two, giving her 60 on the year.Sophomore goalkeeper Dulce Medina (Paramount HS) posted seven saves in the loss.
Photos by Daryl Peterson
