Playing their second state-ranked opponent this week, the Cerritos College men's soccer team came away with a 2-1 win at Pasadena City College on Friday. The Falcons (7-2-2) played to a scoreless tie with #3-ranked Long Beach City College on Tuesday and then recorded their win over the 18-ranked Lancers. Cerritos, who's ranked #20 in the state, will host rival Mt. San Antonio College, the top-ranked team in the state, at 4:00 p.m. next Tuesday.

After a tough first half, where neither team scored, the Falcons turned to sophomore Donovan Perez (South East HS), who accounted for both of the team's goals. Pasadena City got on the board in the 51st minute, before Cerritos responded six minutes later. Possibly motivated by a yellow card he received in the 52nd minute, Perez was able to find the back of the net after sophomore Adan Gonzalez (South East HS) was turned away on a breakaway two minutes before the goal.

On the first scoring play, sophomore Jose Lopez (MY Academy HS) got off the initial shot, which was turned away by Lancers goalkeeper Rayshon Roberts. The rebound landed in front of Perez, who scored from 10 yards out to even the score. In the 71st minute, Perez had a shot deflected wide, which set up a corner kick. Sophomore Jonathan Vivar (Glendora HS/Mt. San Antonio College) launched the ball into the box, where Perez was there to head the ball into the back of the net for his ninth goal of the season, with eight of them coming in the last five games.

Freshman goalkeeper Griffin Welch (Long Beach Poly HS) helped save the game for Cerritos, as he came up with multiple stellar stops to preserve the win. He stymied Ariel Hernandez in the 80th minute, and with less than a minute remaining, he turned away Angel Ballesteros, who got off a great shot from the top of the 18-yard box. On the day, Welch made seven saves.