After opening the day with a 15-6 win over Chaffey College in a South Coast Conference match, the Cerritos College men's water polo team finished off with a 13-10 non-conference over Occidental College Wednesday night at the Falcon Aquatic Center. The win improved the Falcons to 20-7 on the year, and they will now compete in the Golden West Tournament this weekend with their first game slated for 8:35 a.m. on Friday against Diablo Valley College.

Cerritos fell behind the Tigers (5-16) 3-0 in the first quarter and received a pair of goals by sophomore Rafael Romero (Montebello HS) to get to within 4-2 by the end of the first quarter. Trailing 5-4 at intermission, the Falcons responded in the third quarter with six goals and opened up a 10-7 lead. Freshman Miguel Garcia (Montebello HS) scored with 4:47 left in the third quarter to give Cerritos a 6-5 lead, while Garcia and freshman TJ Tigerina (Bell Gardens HS) broke a 6-6 tie with back-to-back goals. Sophomore Chad Castro (Whittier HS) and Garcia (six goals) added tallies by the end of the quarter for a three-goal advantage.

Occidental used a balanced attack to stay close and received a pair of goals from the trio of Jack Stabenfeldt, Joe Reynolds and Patrick Maloney, while goalkeeper Scott Churchman posted 13 saves on the night. Falcon sophomore Christian Flores (Montebello HS), the team's second leading scorer, was held without a goal, but did post three steals, while freshman Albert Kim (Cerritos HS) dished out three assists and added a pair of steals. Sophomore goalkeeper Michael Skinas (La Serna HS) recorded 10 saves in the win and added a pair of steals.

Photo by Daryl Peterson