After playing six four-year colleges last week at the Navy Open, the Cerritos College men's water polo team was met with little resistance when facing Chaffey College on Wednesday. In their South Coast Conference opener at the Falcon Aquatic Center, the Falcons (3-4, 1-0) opened up an 8-2 halftime lead and posted a 17-6 victory. The team will now compete in the Cal Tech Tournament on Friday at Pasadena City College.

In the win over the Panthers (2-2, 0-1), sophomore Jesus Munoz (Montebello HS/Notre Dame College of Ohio) scored both of his goals in the first period to get the team started and was one of nine players to get on the scoreboard. Sophomore Max Gomez (La Serna HS) led the team with three goals, while five different players accounted for a pair of goals.

Along with his two goals, Munoz also registered five steals, while sophomore David Lumbreras (Downey HS) led the Falcons with six steals, with the team finishing with 25 steals on the day. Also scoring twice for Cerritos were sophomores Michael Hanna (Cerritos HS), Carlos Abrego (Bell Gardens HS) and Andrew Javier (Cerritos HS), as did freshman Felix Gonzalez (Montebello HS).

Cerritos used all three of their goalkeepers in the match, with sophomore Pedro Rodriguez (Downey HS) making five saves and posting three steals, as he saw the majority of the work. Freshman Grant Jimenez (Cerritos HS) and sophomore Joseph Owens (Kennedy HS) combined for three saves.

Photos by Daryl Peterson