Continuing to put pressure on the Mt. San Antonio College defense, the Cerritos College women's soccer team finally saw it pay off with a late goal in a 1-0 South Coast Conference win on Tuesday afternoon. The Falcons (16-1-0, 10-1-0), winners of 10 straight games, peppered Mounties goalie Brianna Rice, who came up with 10 saves to keep the outcome undetermined until the 82nd minute. The win kept the team in first place with three games remaining, and they will travel to Pasadena City College on Friday for a 3:00 p.m. game.

It looked as though Cerritos would break through in the 64th minute, but freshman Esmeralda Verdugo (Ensenada BC, Mexico HS) saw her shot hit the crossbar. The Falcons, who posted 30 shots on the day, finally got one into the back of the net, as sophomore Ashley Anaya-Webb (Yorba Linda HS/Cal State Long Beach) lifted a shot into the upper corner and past Rice. Freshman Kimberly Oliveras (East Career & Technical Academy, NV HS) moved the ball into position and fed Anaya-Webb, who scored her state-leading 31st goal from inside the box.

The Mounties (12-5-0, 8-3-0) played with their backs to their goal for the majority of the game and were able to step in front of the extra pass the Cerritos players looked to make once they got deep into scoring position. Even with as many missed chances by the Falcons, Mt. SAC had a couple of great scoring opportunities. Sophomore goalkeeper Adrianna Salazar (Downey HS) made a pair of first half saves, but it was a point-blank save against Hailey Hevelind that kept the game scoreless. In the second half, Hevelind was in position to line up a shot, but an aggressive Salazar stepped up and stole the ball away before a shot could be taken.

If not for several great saves by Rice, the Falcons could have put the outcome out of question. Anaya-Webb led all players with eight shots, while their second leading scorer, sophomore Nayeli Requejo (Bishop Amat HS) recorded five shots, with four of them on target in the first half.

Photos by Daryl Peterson