With their 10th straight South Coast Conference championship under their belt, the Cerritos College women's soccer team is looking to maintain their defensive success as they wind down their regular season. The Falcons (17-0-3, 12-0-1) remained unbeaten on the season after their 3-1 win over visiting El Camino College on Tuesday and have now gone 38 games (35-0-3) without a loss dating back to last season. The team will close out their regular season on Friday with a 3:00 p.m. conference match at El Camino-Compton Center.

In their 20 games this year, Cerritos has allowed just 15 goals, while producing 75 goals on offense. Not only did the Falcons have to play against the Warriors (6-10-4, 5-6-2), the also had to contend with a very cold and windy day, which affected their ability to advance the ball through the air.

Moving the ball on the ground with shorter passes, the team scored twice in the first half, thanks to those effective passes. In the 27th minute, freshman Natalie deLeon (St. Joseph HS) advanced the ball into ECC territory, drawing double coverage. She was able to spot freshman Carolina Jaramillo (Cetis 58, Tijuana, Mexico), who went in undefended against El Camino goalie Oliva Hoover. After making one move to get around the hard-charging Hoover, Jaramillo scored into an empty net.

Right before the end of the first half, the Falcons took a 2-0 lead, with freshman Leslie Walker (Long Beach Poly HS) doing most of the work. She drove the ball to the outside of the 18-yard box before making her move. Her initial shot hit the outside of the net, and when the ball came right back to her, Walker spotted freshman Amber Whitmore (Los Alamitos HS) in front of the net and she chipped the ball in for her 15th goal in the 41st minute.

El Camino cut their deficit in half when Rocio Najaro lifted a shot over freshman goalkeeper Ruby Nichols (Bishop Amat HS) in the 77th minute. Cerritos, not affected by the goal, regained control of the tempo and added an insurance goal in the 86th minute when freshman Jackie Garcia (Paramount HS) send a laser of a shot into the upper half of the net from 30 yards out on a free kick.

Photos by Daryl Peterson