For the second time in a week, the Cerritos College men's water polo team has defeated Mt. San Antonio College. On Thursday, the Falcons opened the Southern California Regional Playoffs with a 9-7 victory over the Mounties to advance to the next round. Seeded #8, Cerritos (22-13) will now take on five-time defending CCCAA State Champion Golden West College at 2:00 p.m. on Friday at Long Beach City College.

Led by sophomore All-American Dominic Hernandez (Schurr HS) scored the team's first three goals and finished with six in the game, Cerritos trailed, 6-4 in the third period. That's where Hernandez stepped up once again, as he scored late in the third quarter and then opened the fourth period with the first of three straight Falcon goals.

Sophomore Richard Montanez (Baldwin Park HS) added a goal, with Hernandez scoring his sixth goal of the game to put the Falcons up, 8-6 with 2:31 remaining. Mt. SAC drew to within a goal until freshman Allan Jimenez (Schurr HS) scored an insurance goal with 1:47 remaining, which turned out to be the final goal of the game.

Cerritos played a solid defensive game, with sophomore goalkeeper Rene Borja (Schurr HS) turning away a season-high 19 shots and also recorded three steals. Hernandez drew six more exclusions, with the Falcons scoring four goals on the power play. Part of their defensive performance including limiting the Mounties 100-goal scoring player Brandon Fabrega to just one first period goal.