Playing just two games at the Golden West Mini Tournament, the Cerritos College men's water polo team split their two games on Friday. The Falcons opened with a tough 20-19 sudden death loss to Citrus College and then rebounded for a 15-8 victory over Palomar College. The team will open South Coast Conference play on Wednesday when they host Rio Hondo College at 4:15 p.m., followed by a non-conference game at 5:30 p.m. against Cal Tech.

Cerritos vs. Citrus: In their biggest setback of the match, leading scorer Angel Rojas (Colegio Fray Luis Amigo, Venezuela) received his third ejection of the game early on and was forced to sit out the rest of the way. Overcoming 24 team turnovers, the Falcons were in the game until the end. Led by sophomore Marlon Moreno (Colegio Virgen del Rosario, Venezuela), who scored eight goals, Cerritos was able to fight back from a four-goal deficit heading into the fourth period. Moreno's eight goals and three assists weren't enough to defeat the Owls. Adding three goals each were freshmen Jesus Rojas (Colegio Fray Luis Amigo, Venezuela) and Israel Rodriguez (Whittier HS), while freshman goalkeeper Ariel Prado-Madera (Buena Park HS) did his best by posting nine saves with a team-high five steals.

Cerritos vs. Palomar: Angel Rojas returned to the lineup and found the net eight times, while he also recorded 10 steals for the Falcons. Prado-Madera and freshman Brian Smith (Ocean View HS) combined for eight saves, with Moreno, Rodriguez and Jesus Rojas each chipping in with a pair of steals. After a 3-3 tie after the first period, Cerritos took an 8-4 lead at the half and extended that to 12-6 by the end of the third period.