A year ago, Cerritos College freshman Connor Johnson (Long Beach Millikan HS) was at UC Irvine and uncertain about his playing future. But a year later, the freshman was named the Most Valuable Player of the CCCAA Men's Soccer State Championships, as his hat trick led the Falcons (14-3-8) to a 3-1 win over Mt. San Antonio College (13-5-7) on Sunday morning. The state title was the third in school history.

"I'm not a big Real Madrid fan, but I saw Benzema make a move in a game and I saw the opportunity to do the same today," said Johnson of his second goal, which gave the Falcons a 2-0 lead early in the second half. He opened the scoring in the fifth minute when he scored on a header after freshman Edzon Cuevas (Animo HS) saw his shot ring off the crossbar.

"I had a difficult situation last year and I used that as my motivation today," added Johnson, who capped the game with a goal in the 87th minute. "This year finished out great for us and I'm really at a loss for words right now."

Johnson stated that on his third goal, both he and freshman Luis Montealegre (Niwot, CO HS) knocked the ball in the net at the same time. According to Johnson, "Luis was gracious enough to give me the goal."

Cerritos opened up with an aggressive offensive attack that resulted in the quick goal for Johnson. On the play, Cuevas created some space in the middle of the field and drilled a line drive that hit hard off the crossbar. An opportunistic Johnson was there to quickly assess his position and headed the ball past Mounties goalkeeper Jorge Beccerra.

Just 13 minutes later, Johnson had a hard line drive shot that was deflected wide of the net, while Beccerra made a diving save off his shot in the 29th minute.

"I've coached Connor since he was 11 years old and I'm so very proud of him," said head coach Benny Artiaga, who led the Falcons to state titles in 2006 and 2008. "He was outstanding today, as were all of our players. One guy that can't be overlooked is Butters (Jose Ochoa). He is our best player and he's the kind of guy that comes around once a decade or so. He's a proven champion and it's his leadership on the field that makes us better. He won four championships in high school and now another one here. That's the sign of a leader.

"You know, ever since we moved Mario Guerrero (University HS) to the center back position, we haven't lost," added Artiaga. "It's those kinds of things that led us here and why we're the state champions. He was playing at a whole new level and it changed the entire chemistry of our game."

The Falcons needed everyone to withstand the offensive onslaught of the Mounties in the second half, as they pressured the defense, Mt. SAC had 11 second half shot attempts, while freshman goalkeeper Ivan Del Campo (Granada Hills Kennedy HS) came up with four saves. After Mt. SAC got to within 2-1 in the 59th minute, they continued to push forward, but was met with the resistence of the Falcon defense. Freshman Christian Carrillo (Katella HS), the Falcons leading scorer, made a huge field block in the 79th minute to keep the team ahead.

Cuevas had two assists in the win, with the second one giving the Falcons some breathing room. After sophomore Christian Hernandez (John Glenn HS) sent a beautiful through ball to Cuevas, he quickly chipped it to Johnson. He then made his "Benzema move" and faked a shot before spinning and shooting for his second goal of the game.

All of that led to the enjoyment of Artiaga. "This feeling will never get old. We made some adjustments coming into the game and the guys had a different mindset this time. These two teams are very familiar with each other, so we knew we had to pick up the level of our game. They're a great team and I wouldn't be surprised if there was another Cerritos-Mt. SAC final in future years."

Photos by Daryl Peterson