Looking to become the first women's soccer team to win three straight state championships in over 10 years, the Cerritos College women's soccer team was extended to overtime against Fresno City College on Friday night at Mt. San Antonio College. The Falcons (23-1-0), seeded #2 from Southern California, handed the Rams (22-1-2) their first loss of the season in a 2-1 decision that went into overtime. The win sends Cerritos into the championship game at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday at Mt. San Antonio College. Their opponent will be Santiago Canyon College, who the Falcons defeated, 3-0 in last year's state championship match.

The last school to win three straight state championships was Long Beach City College, who won four in a row from 2000-03. The Cerritos men's team will also play for the state championship, as the school looks to repeat their 2008 performance when they both won the title. De Anza College (1994) is the other school to have accomplished that feat.

With the game heading into overtime, Cerritos appeared to be wearing down Fresno City, who expelled a great deal of energy marking players on defense. It threw off the tempo that the Falcons had displayed on their way to scoring 133 goals this season heading into the semifinal game.

But in the extra time, all of that energy started to wane, as Cerritos found themselves with more space in the middle, which created better passing lanes. It was an offensive opening with less than 10 minutes remaining in the second half that allowed the Falcons to tie the game. Sophomore Jazmin Aguas (San Pasqual HS) was brought down in the box by the Rams Alyssa Lugo, which resulted in a penalty kick. Aguas converted the kick to tie the game.

In overtime, Cerritos finally broke through and took their first lead of the game when sophomore Clara Gomez (El Modena HS) found the state's leading goal scorer, sophomore Ashley Anaya-Webb (Yorba Linda HS/Cal State Long Beach), who scored her 42nd goal when her shot got past goalkeeper Maria Magana in the 109th minute.

"On the play, Clara located me and we made eye contact," said Anaya-Webb, who led all players with five shots on goal, with four coming in overtime. "She saw that I was in position to get a shot and she was able to get me the ball. I think we finally wore them down because they were really physical with us. Once we got more movement, we were able to get more chances and got the goal we needed."

Against Fresno City, the team found themselves in an unfamiliar position: trailing in a game. The Falcons had a hard time connecting their passes against an aggressive Rams team who focused their energy toward stopping the quick-strike offense of Cerritos. Fresno City's hard work was rewarded when Mel Harris broke through the Falcon defense and got a low, line drive that scooted past sophomore goalkeeper Adrianna Salazar (Downey HS) in the 43rd minute.

"Fresno City is very deserving to be in the finals because they are a very good team," said head coach Ruben Gonzalez, who has led the Falcons to four state titles and three national championships in his nine seasons. "We had a 'never give up' attitude and we needed it for the entire game. We were fortunate early in the second half when they hit the crossbar. But we continued to work hard and I think the size of the field, along with our aggressive offensive attack finally wore them down. We need to continue to play better because Santiago Canyon is a very talented team."

Although she was held scoreless, 100-point scorer Nayeli Requejo (Bishop Amat HS) received great praise from Anaya-Webb. "Nayeli has driven me all season to play better. She works so hard the entire game and I could see that, even though she kept getting knocked down, she got up and worked hard the next time she had a chance to score. I was getting frustrated at first, but I could see how Nayeli just worked even harder. It motivated me and I knew I needed to work just as hard."

Photos by Daryl Peterson