Playing in extreme heat conditions, the Cerritos College men's soccer team knew they needed to use their energy judiciously. The Falcons, ranked #1 in the nation by the United Soccer Coaches among Division III (non-scholarship) schools, had enough energy in the tank, scoring in the 90th minute to defeat Chaffey College, 2-1 in a South Coast Conference crossover match on Tuesday afternoon. At the start of the game, the temperatures hit 106-degrees.

On the game-winning goal, sophomore Luis Garcia (La Habra HS), who scored the team's other goal, stole the ball in Panthers (6-6-4) territory. After a couple of maneuvers, he sent a pass to sophomore Hector Jimenez (South East HS), who had moved up into the play after re-entering the game just a few minutes earlier. Jimenez read the bounce well, controlled the ball and chipped in a shot from inside the 18-yard box to the delight of the Cerritos bench.

Chaffey came out strong in the game and took a lead in the sixth minute of the game until the Falcons were able to regain their balance. They tied the game in an unexpected way, as the left-footed Garcia laced a line drive under the crossbar from 35 yards out with his right foot. It caught both the Panthers defense and goalkeeper Alex Fonseca unexpectedly, although the ball was placed perfectly.

Due to the weather conditions, play was stopped every 15 minutes for mandatory water breaks. Cerritos used those breaks to regroup and seemed to come out with some extra energy, as they controlled possession of the ball through most of the second half.

The Panthers had a 10-minute stretch in the second half where they gathered some momentum. With the game still tied at 1-1 in the latter portions of the game, sophomore goalkeeper Hernan Perez (Pioneer HS) came up with a point-blank save against Gustavo Chavez. Perez played the second half and made two saves to earn the win after freshman Jordan Aldama (North Torrance HS) played the first 45 minutes. The Falcons received another solid defensive performance from their midfielders and defenders on the day.

Photos by Daryl Peterson