in the championship game of the Hartnell Tournament on Saturday, the Cerritos College men's soccer team outlasted Fresno City College, 6-5 in penalty kicks. The teams played to a scoreless tie after 120 minutes, with the championship decided on penalty kicks. The teams were tied at 4-4 after the Rams missed their fifth attempt, which sent the kicks into suddend death. Freshman goalkeeper Juan Pablo Camacho (Norwalk HS) came up with a huge save, with the Falcons securing the win when sophomore Uriel Sanchez (Servite HS) netted his attempt.

"This was a very good game for us, in the sense that we were the aggressor and took the game to Fresno," said head coach Benny Artiaga. "They gave us a little too much respect and we should have put them away in regulation. But we'll learn and grow and will most likely see them again in December. They are a very well coached team and we hold a lot of respect for that program."

The Falcons had a chance to put the only goal on the board in regulation, but sophomore Christian Perez (Paramount HS) missed his penalty kick after freshman Julian Vazquez (Salesian HS) was tackled in the 18-yard box.

In fact, Cerritos held possession of the ball for the majority of the game, but could not finish on any of their offensive attempts. One player making his presence known was sophomore Pablo Caparelli (Real Salt Lake Academy, UT HS), who was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. 

After coming on to play the second half, Camacho kept the Rams off the board and posted a pair of saves during the penalty kicks.

The tournament title was the seventh for the Falcons, who have posted an overall record of 25-11-13 since they started competing in the tournament in 2002, and include a 5-2-4 record against Fresno City.

The Falcons will host Bakersfield College at 4:00 p.m. next Friday.