Looking for a chance to move up into second place in the South Coast Conference, the Cerritos College men's soccer team finished in a 1-1 draw with visiting Los Angeles Harbor College on Friday. The Falcons (8-2-3, 3-1-2) remain in third place with 11 points and get a chance to close the gap on first place El Camino College in a 4:00 p.m. game next Tuesday. The Warriors (7-1-4, 5-1-0) currently lead the conference with 15 points, while Mt. San Antonio is holding second place with 12 points.

After maintaining offensive dominance in the first half, the Falcons appeared to have taken a lead early in the second half. Cerritos peppered Seahawks goalie Jack Moore with eight shots on goal in the first 45 minutes, but could not find the back of the net. In the 52nd minute, freshman Lucas DaSilva (South Torrance HS) got a shot past Moore, but was called for offside, keeping the game scoreless. The Seahawks also had a goal denied due to offside.

A little over a minute later, the goal would stand, as freshman Diego Perez (Fremont HS) sent in a long pass to sophomore Mario Guerrero (University HS), whose chip shot got past Moore for a 1-0 Falcon lead.

LA Harbor finally got some offense generating and was awarded a free kick from close in front of freshman goalkeeper Ivan Del Campo (Granada Hills Kennedy HS). The direct kick was saved, as was the rebound shot. But as the ball was deflected away from the goal, it hit DaSilva on the hand, which resulted in a red card and a penalty kick. Jesus Gutierrez converted the kick and the game was tied with 17 minutes remaining.

Both teams had their chances in the waning minutes, but neither could score and the game ended in a draw.

Photos by Daryl Peterson