With every game in the South Coast Conference a battle, the Cerritos College men's soccer team has to be pleased with their 4-2 win over visiting Los Angeles Harbor College on Tuesday. The Falcons (7-4-2, 1-1-1), who are currently tied for second place in the SCC South Division, will take on North Division leading Los Angeles City College (4-7-23, 2-0-1) at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.

The game against the Seahawks (4-6-2, 1-2-0) didn't start off well for Cerritos, as they surrendered a goal in eighth minute when Gabriel Henriquez sent a perfectly placed shot from outside the 18-yard box into the far upper corner and past the oustretch arms of sophomore goalkeeper Juan Pablo Camacho (Norwalk HS).

The LA Harbor lead didn't last very long, as Cerritos responded a little over a minute later. After the initial shot toward the net by freshman Miguel Gonzalez caused a frantic play in front of the net with someone looking to control the loose ball. The Falcons Jose Lopez (MY Academy HS) was able to square his shoulders toward the net and lifted a shot into the upper corner of the net for the tying goal.

Right before halftime, Cerritos took a 2-1 lead when Lopez grapped an errant pass on the Seahawks side of the field and found freshman Chris Ramirez (Bishop Mora Salesian HS), who was able to turn and get off a shot with enough power that it got past LA Harbor goalkeeper Jesse Heredia.

After taking an early 3-1 lead in the second half when sophomore Mark Cristino (Downey HS/UC Riverside) was able to dribble through the LA Harbor defense and fired off a cross-cage shot that hit the right spot. The Falcons added another goal in the 54th minute when sophomore Chris Martinez (Montebello HS/Mt. San Antonio College) grabbed another loose ball, worked around four Seahawks defender and laced s shot past the diving Heredia.

With less than 20 minutes left, the Falcons were called for a foul inside the 18-yard box, which created a penalty shot for the Seahawks. Camacho, who made five saves on the day, turned away Mark Zarate on his shot, which kept Cerritos ahead by three goals. LA Harbor scored the game's final goal in the 82nd minute to complete the final score.

Photos by Daryl Peterson