Hosting the Cerritos Mini-Tournament on Friday, the Cerritos College men's water polo team picked up one win in their two games on the day. The Falcons (9-3) opened the day with a 14-5 win over San Diego Mesa College and then dropped a close 10-8 decision to Los Angeles Valley College. The team will travel to Chaffey College for a 4:30 p.m. South Coast Conference match on Wednnesday.

Cerritos vs. San Diego Mesa: Neither team could get on the board for the first seven minutes of the first period, as both goalies came up with big saves and several shots hit the goal post and crossbar. It wasn't until freshman Nik Klimpfinger (Los Alamitos HS) scored with :24 seconds left that the Falcons took the early lead. In the final two minutes of the first half, both freshmen Colson Morrow (Long Beach Millikan HS) and Mateo Fernandez (St. John Bosco HS) scored to put Cerritos up, 4-1. They then extended their advantage to 8-1 by scoring the first four goals in the third period. Two of those came from sophomore Dylan Sun (Cerritos HS), while Fernandez scored three times in the period. By the end of the game, Fernandez had a season-high six goals, while Sun and sophomore Raul Muniz (Colbach, Mexico) each finished with a pair of goals and three steals each. All three goalies saw action, and combined for four saves, with freshman Zachary Jenkins (La Serna HS) playing the first half to earn the win.

Cerritos vs. Los Angeles Valley: Taking on the Monarchs for the second time this season, the Falcons absorbed their second loss. The first meeting was a difficult 20-5 setback, although their 10-8 loss on Friday wasn't any more satisfying. The teams traded goals in the first period, with LA Valley taking a 4-3 advantage. Just like the did when they scored with :03 seconds left on the clock in the first period, the Monarchs added two late goals in the second period to take a 6-4 lead into intermission. It was an 8-4 deficit heading into the fourth when freshman Will Alwine (La Quinta HS) and sophomore Arturo Ortuno (Universidad la Salle, Mexico) each scored to draw the team to within 8-6 early on. However, Davo Araklyan scored twice within :52 seconds for LA Valley and they regained their four-goal lead. Ortuno led the team with four goals and shared the team lead with freshman Kevin Elizarraraz (Buena Park HS) in steals with three. Jenkins suffered the loss in a seven-save effort.