Trailing twice in the game, the Cerritos College women's soccer team scored a pair of overtime goals to defeat San Bernardino Valley College, 3-2. The #4-seeded Falcons (20-0-3) fell behind less than two minutes into the first of two 15-minute overtime periods to the #5-seeded Wolverines (16-3-3), but scratched their way back with two goals in a little over three minutes to record the win.

The three-time defending CCCAA State Champions will now host a very familiar post-season foe - Santiago Canyon College - who upset #1-seeded Chaffey College, 1-0 in overtime. Cerritos has defeated the Hawks in the each of their three straight state championship games and have beat them in four of their five overall state championship seasons. The third round playoff game will be on Saturday at 2:00 p.m., with the winner advancing to the CCCAA State Tournament, which will take place December 4 & 6 at De Anza College.

Trailing 2-1 early in the first overtime, the Falcons were forced to take chances on offense to look for the equalizer. With time running out in the first 15 minutes, sophomore Mariah Navarrette (La Serna HS/Santiago Canyon College) sent a perfect corner kick that freshman Natalie deLeon (St. Joseph HS) was able to head home in the 105th minute.

The goal seemed to bring life back into a Cerritos team that was getting frustrated offensively, as San Bernardino Valley was doing a solid job of holding the team at bay. The Falcons controlled the ball for the majority of the game, but struggled to finish their scoring chances.

Early in the second overtime period, sophomore Megan Chlentzos (Beckman HS/Colorado Christian College HS) offered a beautifully placed throw-in to the front side of the goal post. Freshman Jamie Peters (Bishop Amat HS) was placed in the perfect spot and nudged the ball just enough to get it between the arm of Wolverines goalie Arianna Rodriguez and the post for the game-winning goal.

"I knew where I was on the field and when I saw the ball coming in, I just wanted to be able to get enough of it to try and get it past their keeper," said Peters of her ninth goal of the season. "Megan sent such a great ball and I was able to barely touch it and it went into the net."

San Bernardino took a 1-0 lead in the first half when Cerritos goalie Ruby Nichols (Bishop Amat HS) failed the clear the ball and it went right to Amairany Rosales, who scored into an open half of the net in the 38th minute. The Falcons did tie the game in the 67th minute, as freshman Carolina Jaramillo (Cetis #58 HS, Tijuana) fought off three defenders with some nifty footwork and laced a line drive from 20 yards out into the net. Jaramillo spent the majority of the game with three defenders on her, but still produced seven shots.

Nichols, who came up with some key second half saves, finished with eight on the day, as did Rodriguez.

"We seemed to dominate the possession of the ball and had good chances in the first half, but couldn't score," said head coach Ruben Gonzalez. "And when we fell behind in overtime, the team showed a 'never-say-die' attitude and continued to fight. A lot of credit goes to San Bernardino, who played an excellent game. They deserved a higher seed, and the way they played today proved it."

"But now we have another battle on our hands" added Gonzalez. "Both teams are very familiar with each other, and once again, there's a lot on the line. The have some really gifted players and we need to not miss our scoring chances. Just like with every state title we've won, if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best teams in the state."

Photos by Kelly Strawder