Sophomore Mario Guerrero (University HS) buried a penalty kick in extra time to help the Cerritos College men's soccer team defeated East Los Angeles College, 2-1 on Tuesday in their South Coast Conference opener. With the game in extra time, freshman Saratiel Campos (Golden Valley, Bakersfield HS) was pulled down in the box by Christian Vasquez, which resulted in the penalty kick. Guerrero stepped in and scored into the lower right corner past Huskies goalkeeper Andy Gutierrez.

Cerritos (6-1-1, 1-0-0) took a 1-0 lead early in the second half when freshman Christian Carrillo (Katella HS) drilled a shot into the exposed upper left corner of the net in the 56th minute. Sophomore Christian Hernandez (John Glenn HS) moved the ball toward the attacking zone and fed Carrillo, who was left alone in the box.

Although they controlled the ball for most of the first half and into the second half, the Huskies (3-3-2, 0-1-0) were able to tie the game in the 64th minute on a spectacular direct kick from 40 yards out from Juan Carlos Gonzalez. The shot was lined over the outstretched arm of freshman goalkeeper Ivan Del Campo (Granada Hills Kennedy HS). Del Campo improved his record to 6-0-0 by making two saves on the day.

The Falcons had a couple of first half chances, but freshman Sebastian Velasquez (Hollywood HS) was turned away. As for East LA, they didn't get their first shot on goal until they scored in the 64th minute.

Once East LA scored, the intensity of the game increased and the physical play resulted in eight second half yellow cards. The two schools will face each other at East LA on October 24. Cerritos will now travel to Long Beach City College for a 4:00 p.m. conference game on Friday.

Photos by Daryl Peterson