Looking to get off to a fast start in 2024, the Cerritos College men's soccer team needed less than three minutes to score their first goal of the season. The Falcons (1-0-0), who peppered College of the Desert goalkeeper Samuel Guzman with 19 shot attempts, found the back of the net three times in a 3-0 home victory. Cerritos will look to continue their intense 90 minutes of soccer on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. when they host Norco College. The Falcons opened last season with a tie against Desert, while they were defeated by Norco.

Pressuring the Roadrunners defense from the outset, sophomore Pedro Reyes (California Connections Academy HS/Cal State Fullerton) gained possession of a loose ball and fed the ball to sophomore Jose Lopez (MY Academy), who controlled the ball and fired a low roller under the diving Guzman for a quick Cerritos lead.

Prior to the end of the first half, the Falcons picked up an insurance goal in the 36th minute, as freshman Jonathan Vivar (Glendora HS/Mt. San Antonio College) jumped on another bad clearing attempt by the Roadrunners and was able to chip the ball into the net for what turned out to be an insurmountable advantage.

Freshman goalkeeper Griffin Welch (Long Beach Poly HS), who made five saves on the day, turned away four of those shots in the second half.

The Falcons closed out the scoring in the 76th minute, as Lopez was able to dribble through three Desert defenders and sent a short pass to freshman Gustavo Arias (Fairmont Prep HS), who chipped the ball into the net to close out the scoring.

Photos by Daryl Peterson