If the Cerritos College men's soccer team looks back at their 2-2 South Coast Conference tie against Pasadena City College, they can look at their two missed penalty kicks as negatives, but their last-minute goal as a positive. The deadlock keeps the Falcons in second place in the South Division, as they prepare for a rivalry game next Tuesday at Mt. San Antonio College.

The Falcons (9-4-3, 3-1-2) and Mounties (4-4-7, 2-1-2) may not be having they type of seasons they typically do, but every match between the team is played like a state championship game. In past years, the two are normally at the top of their respective divisions, but this season will be a battle to stay in second place.

"I don't think we could play worse even if we tried," said head coach Benny Artiaga of his team's performance. This was probably our worse game of the season. We have to learn how to put teams away. I lost count of all the misses we had and we played with no character today."

 

Trailing in the second half, 2-1 after the Lancers scored in the 66th minute, sophomore Kevin Meza (ASU Preparatory Academy HS/Northern Illinois University) was given not one, but two chances to tie the game. He stepped up in both the 76th and 77th minutes for penalty kicks, but was turned away both times.

But that didn't slow down the Cerritos offense, who was desperate to tie the game before the final whistle. In the final minute, sophomore defender Diego Alvarado (Sierra Vista HS) was able to send a ball through the Pasadena City defense to freshman Miguel Gonzalez, who was able to get enough off on his shot to find the back of the net to the delight of his teammates.

The Falcons were relentless at times with their offensive attack, but just missed several high percentage shots that were off target.

They opened the scoring in the 26th minute when sophomore Mark Cristino (Downey HS/UC Riverside) scored in his second straight game on a nice pass from freshman Donavan Perez (South East HS). Prior to the end of the first half, the Lancers were able to score on a penalty kick past starting goalkeeper Steven Ruiz (Cathedral HS).

 

The goalkeeping duties were shared by Ruiz, who was the goalie of record, as well as sophomore Juan Pablo Camacho (Norwalk HS), who played the second half.