Completing their South Coast Conference crossover schedule on Friday, the Cerritos College men's soccer team dropped a 2-0 decision to visiting Rio Hondo College. The Falcons (7-6-4) resume South Division play next Tuesday with a 4:00 p.m. match against visiting ECC Compton Center. The team went 3-0-1 in the first round of divisional play and are sitting in first place with four regular season games remaining.

In the loss to the Roadrunners (9-2-6), the Falcons surrendered an early goal in the seventh minute when Ricky Sotelo scored on a rebound after sophomore goalkeeper Ivan Martin Del Campo (Granada Hills Kennedy HS) made a point blank save on the initial shot by Nicholas Knapp. The hard shot came off Martin Del Campo's hands in front to Sotelo, who chipped the ball in for the opening score.

Cerritos thought they had tied the game in the 15th minute, but sophomore Carlos Escobedo (South Gate HS) was ruled offside after freshman Luis Garcia (La Habra HS) saw his shot careen off the post. Garcia led the team with three first half shots on goal.

Closing in on getting their first goal of the game, the Falcons saw Rio Hondo take a 2-0 lead in the 62nd minute when Alejandro Luna scored in a free kick from 30 yards out. His hard, low shot was screened by numerous players and Martin Del Campo was late in reacting to the ball.

The Falcons outshot the Roadrunners, 12-8 on the day.

Photos by Daryl Peterson