The Cerritos College women's soccer team opened defense of their CCCAA State Championship with a 2-0 win over visiting Mt. San Jacinto College on Saturday. Seeded #4, the Falcons (19-0-3), unbeaten in their last 40 games (37-0-3), will host #5-seeded San Bernardino Valley College at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The Wolverines (16-2-3) defeated Santa Barbara City College, 2-0 in the first round.

Against the 13-seeded Eagles, Cerritos was held off the board for the first 66 minutes of the game. However, their hard work paid off when freshman Carolina Jaramillo (Cetis 58, Tijuana HS) was tackled in the box and awarded a penalty kick. On the play, Jaramillo looked to use her speed to get around Valerie Garcia and was pulled down.

"That was just a situation where I think Caro was not as tired as their players," said head coach Ruben Gonzalez, who has led his Falcons to the last three CCCAA State Championships and five in the last eight seasons. "We were working really hard to get scoring chances against a very disciplined and a well-organized team. They might have been getting tired because we were controlling the ball for most of the game. It paid off and Caro was able to convert."

Less than 20 minutes later, Jaramillo sent a great pass off a set piece when her cross was beautifully headed in by freshman Amber Whitmore (Los Alamitos HS) for an insurance goal. Whitmore didn't even have to move, as the ball from Jaramillo was placed perfectly.

Cerritos was able to get 10 shots on goal, with the Eagles getting only one shot through the Falcon defense and to freshman goalie Ruby Nichols (Bishop Amat HS). The Falcons had more chances and even had a goal called off due to an offside, while Jaramillo's cross to freshman Jamie Peters (Bishop Amat HS) into the far corner was headed less than a foot over the cross bar for a missed scoring chance.

"One of the keys for us today was the play of (midfielder) Adriana Velasquez (Long Beach Jordan HS)", added Gonzalez. "She works non-stop out there and was able to prevent them from getting anything going today.

The last time the Falcons faced San Bernardino Valley was in their last regular season game before the playoffs in 2011 resulted in a 1-0 loss. Cerritos lost the next game, their playoff opener, and have not lost a playoff game since, going 16-0 since 2012.

The Wolverines are led by forward Leandra Garlinger, who has a team-high 21 goals on the season, while the duo Amiarany Rosales and Aleyah Coleman each have 10 goals.

Photos by Daryl Peterson