In their quest for a state championship, the Cerritos College men's water polo team came up short, as host Diablo Valley College posted an 18-8 win in the state semi-final game on Friday. The Falcons, making their first state tournament appearance since 2005, were the #2-seeded team from Southern California, while the host Vikings (22-3) were the top-seeded team from Northern California. Cerritos will face West Valley College (13-11) at 11:45 a.m. in the third place match on Saturday.

Cerritos fell behind 3-0 in the first quarter and could never get on track against a more physical team that was looking for some revenge after the Falcons defeated them, 11-10 earlier in the season. It was a 5-2 deficit after the first quarter and a 9-4 score at halftime.

Four players scored twice for the Falcons to account for their scoring, as sophomores Chad Castro (Whittier HS), Christian Flores (Montebello HS) and Rafael Romero (Montebello HS) were joined by freshman Miguel Garcia (Montebello HS). Sophomore goalie Michael Skinas (La Serna HS) came away with six saves, with Diablo Valley goalie Federico Epis finishing with 15 stops.

Photo by Daryl Peterson