After sweeping their first three games of the Navy Labor Day Open in Annapolis (MD), the Cerritos College men's water polo team started the second day with a thrilling 14-13 overtime win over the College of Notre Dame (IN). The win was their fourth in a row at the tournament, but the day ended with the Falcons (4-1) dropping a 17-9 decisio to Division I Johns Hopkins. Cerritos will close out the tournament with three games on Sunday, as they face Salem International (WV) University, followed by a game against nationally-ranked Navy and then finish against Penn State (Behrend) University.

"We just ran out of gas in the game against Johns Hopkins," said head coach Joe Abing, who brought his squad across country for the second year in a row. "The whole trip was as much work as it was fun. We try to absorb the atmosphere as much as we can, while at the same time, remaining focused on our games. Playing eight games in three days is really tiring on the players bodies, but I thought everyone did a great job and gained a memorable experience."

In the win over Notre Dame, sophomore Christian Flores (Montebello HS) led the way with five goals, while sophomore Rafael Romero (Montebello HS) added three goals. Playing without sophomore goalkeeper Michael Skinas (La Serna HS), who was nursing an injury, freshman Coleton Perez (Western HS) came on and made eight saves with four steals. The trio of sophomores Daric Johnson (Whittier HS) and Davey Brown (Whittier HS), along with freshman Miguel Garcia (Montebello HS) all chipped in with three steals.

Cerritos does have some history with the College of Notre Dame, as former players Patrick Muniz and Daniel Peng transferred to that school, while current assistant coach Joe Joson was a red-shirt last season.

The Falcons fell behind early against Johns Hopkins, but did get balanced scoring, as six different players scored. Garcia led the team with three goals, with Johnson adding a pair of goals and two steals. Perez posted five saves and two steals in the loss.