Just one day after winning their first South Coast Conference Championship since 2004, the Cerritos College men's water polo team found out they will be facing Palomar College in the Southern California Regional Playoffs. The Falcons (25-9) were seeded #3 after their victory over previous #3-ranked Long Beach City in the SCC finals and will be taking on #6-seeded Palomar College (21-6) at Fullerton College at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.

The meeting with the Comets will be the third of the year, as the Falcons recorded an 18-16 win at the Riverside Tournament a month ago and then registered a 10-8 win at home on October 10. Cerritos received a bye in the first round due to their high ranking, and the winner of the game will take on either #2-seeded Riverside College or their yet-to-be-determined opponent.

Palomar, co-champions of the Pacific Coast Conference, boast the state's top goal scorer, Rhett Turvey who has 119 goals on the year, but was limited to just one goal in the team's second meeting. Falcon freshman Miguel Garcia (Montebello HS) is second in the state with 113 goals, which is a new school record. Sophomore goalie Michael Skinas (La Serna HS) is second in the state with 295 saves, while the Comets Blaise Morales is fifth with 262 saves.

For the complete Southern California Regional brackets, click HERE.

The top two teams from Southern California and Northern California advance to the state championships, which will take place at DeAnza College on November 16-17.

Photo by Daryl Peterson