With a consistently balanced offensive attack, the Cerritos College men's water polo team defeated visiting Rio Hondo College, 21-8 in a South Coast Conference match on Wednesday. The win by the Falcons evens their conference record at 1-1, while they are now 5-4 on the season. The team will compete in the San Diego Mesa Tournament this weekend.

In their win over the Roadrunners, 10 different players scored, which is typical of a Falcon team over the years. They opened a 5-2 lead after the first quarter on their way to a 12-3 lead at intermission. By then, six different players had scored, as Cerritos continued to transition off their defensive success, which led to odd-number attacks on goal. Freshman Arturo Ortuno (Universidad La Salle, Mexico) led the way with four of the team's 16 steals, while he also scored a game-high five goals.

Assisting in the transition, sophomore goalies Matthew Contreras (Montebello HS) and Jason Curiel (El Rancho HS) each assisted on a goal, while they combined for eight saves. Both sophomore Salvador Orozco (Montebello HS) and freshman Zach Estrada (St. John Bosco HS) each scored three times, with the trio of sophomores Bryan Santis (La Serna HS) and Mark Arroyo (Schurr HS), along with Dylan Sun (Cerritos HS) all adding a pair of goals. Additionally, 10 different players posted at least one steal in the win.

Photos by Daryl Peterson