For the first time since 2004, the Cerritos College men's water polo team captured the South Coast Conference championship after they defeated Long Beach City College, 11-8 on Saturday. The win by the Falcons (25-9) secures the #3 seed for next weekend's Southern California Regional Playoffs, which will take place at Fullerton College.

After losing a pair of overtime games to the Vikings this season, Cerritos took an early 3-1 in the first quarter, but had to come back from a 5-4 halftime deficit. They responded by outscoring Long Beach City, 4-1 in the third quarter.

"We talked at halftime about executing some of the things we were unable to do in the first half," said head coach Joe Abing. "They play a very aggressive style of defense and we allowed them to play that physical style against us. We were able to pass the ball better and the result of that was some key goals to help us get ahead."

Sophomore Christian Flores (Montebello HS) tied the game at 5-5 with his goal in the third quarter and after a goal by sophomore Daric Johnson (Whittier HS) put the team up, 6-5, the Falcons never looked back. Flores made it a 7-5 game with a powerful goal with 4:17 left in the quarter, and after the Vikings got to within 7-6, Cerritos scored three straight to put the game out of reach.

Sophomore goalkeeper Michael Skinas (La Serna HS) came up huge in goal time and time again, as he recorded 13 saves, while Flores led the team with four goals. Freshman TJ Tigerina (Bell Gardens HS) added three goals and three steals in the win, while freshman Christian Cordova (Montebello HS) posted three steals.

Photo by Daryl Peterson