Looking to remain in the hunt for one of the top two places in the South Coast Conference, the Cerritos College men's soccer team posted a 4-0 home win over Pasadena City College on Friday. The Falcons (10-3-6, 5-2-5) opened the day in third place and were four points out of second place and five points out of first place with just two more games remaining. The team will travel to Los Angeles Harbor College on Tuesday and then close out the regular season taking on first place El Camino College on the road next Friday.

In the win over the Lancers (5-11-3, 3-8-1), Cerritos was rewarded with their aggressiveness and received two first half free kicks. Not wanting to spoil their scoring chances, they executed both of them in fine fashion, as both shots stumped PCC goalkeeper Alan Lopez, who didn't make a move on either shot.

The first goal came off the foot of sophomore Ricardo Covarrubias (Elizabeth Learning Center HS), who drilled a shot from just outside the 18-yard box in the 37th minute. Right before halftime, freshman Steve Martinez (Salesian HS) matched that feat and sent a laser from about 30 yards out that cleared the crossbar for his seventh goal of the year.

Early in the game, freshman goalkeeper Ivan Del Campo (Granada Hills Kennedy HS) was injured in a collision and finally was replaced by sophomore Jaime Sanchez (Salesian HS) in the 31st minute. Sanchez earned his first win of the season with 59 minutes of action and posted a pair of saves.

In the second half, sophomore Jose Ochoa (Paramount HS) controlled a pass from freshman Luis Montealegre (Niwot, CO HS), had enough space to turn and face the goal in order to get off a well-executed shot. The scoring concluded in the 81st minute with Martinez making a great control play from a long pass by freshman Edzon Cuevas (Animo HS). Once he received the ball, it was one dribble and line drive shot past Lopez for his second goal of the day.

Photos by Daryl Peterson