In their rivalry game against Long Beach City College on Wednesday, the Cerritos College men's water polo team came up short in an 11-9 decision. The loss to the Vikings (14-3, 5-0) drops the Falcons to 20-3 overall and 4-1 in South Coast Conference play. The team will now travel to the Golden West Tournament this weekend and take on state powers Riverside City College and Golden West College.

Cerritos trailed the entire game and made a third quarter run to get them to a 7-7 tie after a goal by freshman Kameron Simmons (Evanston Township, IL HS) with 3:58 left. LBCC responded by scoring the next two goals to close out the quarter, with the Falcons getting to winin 9-8 and 10-9 before running out of time. Each time Cerritos scored, the Vikings came right back with an answer.

Turnovers hurt the Falcons, as they committed 18 on the day, while they were just 2-for-5 in their 6-on-5 opportunities.

The team was led by sophomore Jesus Rojas (Colegio Fray Luis Amigo, Venezuela) with his three goals and three assists, while the tandem of Simmons and freshman Ever Resendiz (Colegio de Bachilleres 6, Mexico) posted two each. Freshman goalkeeper Jason Curiel (El Rancho HS) turned away seven shots, but saw LBCC's Nick Wood make numerous big saves when the game was close and finished with 10 saves.

Photos by Daryl Peterson