In their first weekend of the 2022 season, the Cerritos College men's water polo team posted a perfect 5-0 record at the Merced Tournament. The Falcons (5-0) opened with wins over Las Positas (14-8), Sierra (13-9) and American River (15-4) on Saturday and followed it with wins over Modesto (18-8) and the host Blue Devils (15-7). Cerritos will play a pair of games next Friday in the Labor Day Tournament at Southwestern College.

The Falcons had a pair of slow starts in their first two games on Friday. They trailed Las Positas, 5-3 at halftime, but found the back of the net 11 times in the second half to post the win. Kobe Hurtado (Cerritos HS) and Axel Pedroza (California HS) opened up the third quarter with goals, while Hurtado and Sebastian Rico (Montebello HS) each scored in the final minute of the quarter to give Cerritos an 8-7 advantage. Just as they did in the third quarter, Cerritos posted the first two goals of the fourth quarter, with Allan Jimenez (Schurr HS) and Silvestre Chavez (Downey HS) keeping the momentum going. Las Positas scored to stop the four-goal run, but four different scorers for Cerritos closed out the game for the win.

The trio of Hurtado, Pedroza and Jimenez all scored three times, which seven different players accounting for at least one goal. Chavez had four assists, with Abimael Anorve (Mira Costa HS) turning in five steals and three assists. Goalkeeper Rene Borja (Schurr HS) turned away 10 shots to earn the win.

Another strong second half allowed Cerritos to pull out the win over Sierra. Jimenez scored the game's first two goals and it was three straight goals in the third quarter that turned a 6-4 lead into a 9-4 advantage. The Wolverines closed the score to 9-6 early in the fourth quarter until the duo of Anorve and Rico each scored to restore a five-goal lead. Jimenez and Pedroza each scored three times with a trio of players each scoring twice. Dominic Hernandez (Schurr HS) assisted on five of the team's goals, while Borja turned away nine shots.

Ten different players scored in the win over American River, with Pedroza and Emiliano Cuara (La Habra HS) accounting for three each. The Falcons took a 9-3 lead at intermission and never looked back. As a team, Cerritos recorded 18 steals, led by Richard Montanez (Baldwin Park HS), with Joel Rivas (Montebello HS) chipping in with three steals. All three goalkeepers saw action and combined for eight saves, with Borja, Anthony Alonso (Warren HS) and Layth Sabha (Cerritos HS) sharing the duties.

Trailing for the first time this season, Cerritos turned a 3-3 score after one period into an 11-4 lead at intermission after an eight-goal second period. Hurtado scored three times in the stanza, with Anorve adding a pair of goals. The teams traded goals in the second half until the Falcons limited Modesto to just one goal in the fourth quarter. Jimenez led the team with four goals, with Hurtado, Anorve and Rico each posting three goals in the win. Ruben Montoya (La Serna HS) led the defensive effort with five of the team's 24 steals, while Pedroza had four. Borja, who played the first half, picked up his fourth win of the season with two saves, while Alonzo and Sabha each played a quarter in the second half.

In the final game of the tournament, the Falcons found themselves trailing, 3-1 in the first quarter, but closed out the final 1:51 by scoring three times, including a goal with one second remaining by Borja from his keeper cage. After trading goals in the second period, the Falcons shut out the Blue Devils in the third quarter and added three goals to their total for a 10-5 lead. Pedroza, who scored five goals in the game, accounted for three of them in the fourth quarter. Montoya and Montanez each recorded a trio of steals in the win, with Borja turning in eight saves in the first half.