It was a game of two different halves for the Cerritos College men's water polo team against rival Long Beach City College in the South Coast Conference Tournament championship game on Saturday. The Falcons (22-9), who entered the day with three losses to the Vikings, held a 9-6 first half lead and 11-10 in the second half before LBCC scored three of the final four goals in the fourth period.

The Falcons will find out on Sunday where they will be seeded for the Southern California Regional Playoffs, which take place at Mt. San Antonio College from November 12-14.

The game was tied four times by the time it was a 5-5 score at the start of the second period. LBCC took a 5-3 first period lead before a man advantage goal from freshman Jesus Rojas (Colegio Fray Luis Amigo, Venezuela) with :14 seconds left in the first period got the team closer. Sophomore Marlon Moreno (Colegio Virgen del Rosario, Venezuela) tied the game at 5-5 on a goal with 7:01 left in the second period. Cerritos went into halftime with a 9-8 lead and converted four of their six man advantage situations.

Moreno had a chance to score the first goal of the second half, but his 5-meter shot was blocked by Vikings goalkeeper Noah Borin. LB City picked up goals from Conor Shuey and Giorgio La Rosa to take an 10-9 lead before Moreno and freshman Angel Rojas (Colegio Fray Luis Amigo, Venezuela) scored for an 11-10 lead with 3:53 left in the third period. The Rojas goal came after he lost the ball to Martin Gorbics and then quickly returned the favor with a steal and quick goal.

But it was all LB City in the fourth period, as they scored twice on consecutive Falcon turnovers and held a 13-11 lead with 5:52 left in the period. With 3:46 remaining, sophomore Matthew Skinas (La Serna HS) scored a power play goal to get to within 13-12. But Cerritos wasn't able to get the equalizer and suffered their fourth setback against Long Beach City.

Angel Rojas now owns the school record for most goals in a season (139) after his five tallies, while his 91 assists are a school record. His three steals have now tied him for the most in a season (97) and is close to becoming the first player in school history to record over 100 in each of those three categories.

Sophomore goalkeeper Alfredo De La Mora (Bell Gardens HS) turned away 14 shots on the day, including several big stops in crucial parts of the game.