The Cerritos College men's soccer team spotted visiting Oxnard College a 2-0 first half lead before tying the game before intermission, and then went on to record a 5-3 victory on Tuesday on the Falcon Soccer Field. The Falcons (3-1-1) scored a pair of goals in the final five minutes of the first half and then repeated that feat late in the second half to break a 3-3 tie against the Condors (2-2-0). Cerritos will now travel to Golden West College for a 3:00 p.m. non-conference game on Friday.

With the game knotted at 3-3 in the waning minutes, freshman midfielder Andy Ramirez (South East  HS) took a hard shot toward the net that deflected off an Oxnard defender and into the net past goalkeeper Jose Gonzalez in the 85th minute. That softened the Condor defense in an attempt to score the tying goal. It left a seam for sophomore midfielder Fabian Tapia (Glenwood Springs, CO HS) to find sophomore Thiago Lusardi (Centro Educational Ramos, Brazil HS) with a  pass through the defense that led to the second goal of the game and sixth in the last three games for Lusardi.

After freshman Edwin Corona (Cathedral HS) and Tapia scored late first-half goals, Lusardi gave the Falcons their first lead of the game early in the second half. Corona was tackled just outside the penalty box, and Lusardi bent a direct kick into the upper corner of the net in the 52nd minute. 

But Oxnard wasn't done and they tied the game in the 57th minute on a shot that got past freshman goalkeeper Thomas Yeandle (Orange Lutheran HS). Yeandle, who made six saves on the day, made a stellar save on a first half shot attempt by Diego Hernandez, but his rebound was converted by Jose Acevedo, which gave Oxnard a 2-0 lead.

Cerritos didn't stop looking for scoring chances, and all it took was a simple shot attempt by Ramirez to deflect off the defense and find the net to give the Falcons their eventual game-winning goal.

Photo by Daryl Peterson