Ranked #2 in the country by the NSCAA Division III (non-scholarship) schools, the Cerritos College women's soccer team finished off their trip to Texas with a 5-2 win over Cisco (TX) College. Their win improves the team's record to 4-0-2 on the year, while they are now 11-1-1 since 2007 in games where the Falcons have traveled outside of California. Next Saturday, they will close out their pre-season with a 5:00 p.m. home game against Ventura College.

Cerritos jumped out to a 4-0 first half lead over Cisco, who is ranked #18 in the country among Division I (scholarship) schools. Struggling to finish plays early in the season, the Falcons were able to get on the board just six minutes into the game and continued their offensive pressure, which paid off three more times before intermission.

On the first goal, freshman Heidi Snyder (Mayfair HS) fed a pass to freshman Jamie Peters (Bishop Amat HS). The play continued until Peters laced a hard shot from just outside the 18-yard box and into the upper corner of the net. Twenty minutes later, it was a 2-0 Falcon lead when Snyder received a pass from Graciela Lopez (Downey HS) and dribbled the ball down the sideline, where she sent a low, line drive that found it's way past the goalkeeper.

The offense was running on all cylinders when sophomore Gabi Lamb (Yorba Linda HS) crossed the ball on the ground to freshman Amber Whitmore (Los Alamitos HS), who quickly converted the play into a goal when she tapped the ball into the corner of the net. Before the end of the first half, it was a 4-0 Cerritos lead because of their speed on the edge. On the scoring play, freshman Adriana Velasquez (Long Beach Jordan HS) found sophomore Victoria Hernandez (Warren HS/UC Irvine) in the middle and she finished it for her first goal of the season.

Cisco did open the second half with a quick goal in the 48th minute and then another in the 64th minute against freshman goalkeeper Ruby Nichols (Bishop Amat HS). But the Falcons picked up an insurance goal in the 80th minute when freshman Natalie deLeon (St. Joseph HS) connected on a pass to Whitmore, who scored her second goal of the game.

On the day, Cerritos posted 18 shots on goal, with Nichols recording four saves in the win.

Photos by Ana Ramirez