In their South Coast Conference opener, the Cerritos College men's water polo team held off host El Camino College, 16-9 on Wednesday. The Falcons (6-3, 1-0) will now travel to the East Coast to compete in the Connecticut College Tournament, where they will face three NCAA colleges and one California Community College team.

In the win over the Warriors, Cerritos turned a 2-1 first period deficit into a 4-2 lead after scoring three straight times before the end of the period. The trio of Seamus MacDonald (Long Beach Millikan HS), Kevin Elizarraraz (Buena Park HS) and Mario Vanzillotta scored, with Mateo Fernandez (St. John Bosco HS) opening the second period with a goal to help the Falcons take a 5-2 advantage. Three more goals in the span of 1:22 put the team in front, 8-3, while they led 9-4 heading into halftime.

The teams traded goals in the third period, with the Falcons pulling away in the fourth by scoring three of the first four goals. The trio of Fernandez, Brian Luque-Gutierrez and John Gomez (La Serna HS) finished the game with three goals each, as eight different players scored for Cerritos.

Luque-Gutierrez also dished out four assists in the win, with Elizarraraz adding three assists to his two goals. Eduardo Rodriguez (Buena Park HS) led an 18-steal game for the Falcons with four thefts, with Fernandez and Elizarraraz both posting three steals. Goalie Zachary Jenkins (La Serna HS) made 12 saves in his three periods of work to earn the win.