In their CCCAA State Championship semifinal game against Fresno City College on Friday, the Cerritos College women's soccer team worked their mastery of the corner kick to the tune of a 3-1 win. The Falcons (22-0-3) advanced to the championship game for the fourth year in a row by scoring all three of their goals on corner kicks against the Rams (19-2-4). Champions the last three years, Cerritos will face the winner of the Modesto-Rio Hondo game at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday at De Anza College.
In their first game of the season, Cerritos and Fresno City tied, 2-2. It would be the first meeting of the season between either Rio Hondo or Modesto. The Falcons are also looking to become just the second program in CCCAA history with four state championships. From 2000-03, Long Beach City College won four straight titles.
The Falcons got on the board in the 13th minute when freshman Carolina Jaramillo (Cetis 58, Tijuana HS) sent a corner kick to the back post, where freshman Amber Whitmore (Los Alamitos HS) headed the ball home. It was a header by Whitmore in the 81st minute against Santiago Canyon College in the third round of the playoffs that turned out to be the game's lone goal, which advanced Cerritos to the state semifinals.
"We wanted to be aggressive early in the game," said head coach Ruben Gonzalez, who has led the Falcons to five state championships and three national championships. "Fresno's work ethic is phenomenal, so we knew we had to work hard the entire game. They get most of their scoring chances on the other team's mistakes, and we gave them one goal today with a mistake. We need to work on our midfield play and get ready for another tough game on Sunday."
Prior to becoming the head coach at Cerritos, Gonzalez spent three seasons serving as the head women's soccer coach at Rio Hondo College and led them to two Foothill Conference championships and a combined 44-11-1 overall record. A win by the Roadrunners over Modesto could pit Gonzalez against the school he left to come to the Falcons.
The Rams were able to tie the game at 1-1 in the 29th minute when sophomore Victoria Hernandez (Warren HS/UC Irvine) tried to clear away a shot by Denisse Aguirre. However, the spin on the ball sent it over goalkeeper Ruby Nichols' (Bishop Amat HS) head for a goal. That didn't seem to lessen the aggressiveness from the Falcons, who regained the lead less than five minutes later.
Taking one of their eight corner kicks on the day, freshman Jackie Garcia (Paramount HS) sent a corner kick into a cluster of players in front of the Fresno City goal. Freshman Jamie Peters (Bishop Amat HS) was able to track the ball and chipped it past goalkeeper Amanda Raymond into an open corner of the net for the eventual game-winning goal.
In an impressive corner kick, Jaramillo was able to bend the ball to the back post and it curved into the net, where the Freno City keeper was only able to tip the ball into the goal for an insurance goal in the 62nd minute. It was the team-leading 26th goal of the season for Jaramillo. On the day, Cerritos out-shot the Rams, 16-12, with only two of Fresno City's shots on goal.
"Just like every other team, we work on set pieces a lot," added Gonzalez. "This team has put in the work necessary to be in this position, but we're not done. We have to regroup and get ready for the most important game of the season. We've seen Rio Hondo play a couple of times, but haven't seen Modesto until today (the other semifinal game). The players know what's at stake."
February 10, 2016
W. Soccer: Falcons have four sign National Letters of Intent
December 10, 2015
W. Soccer: National awards start coming in for the Falcons
December 8, 2015
W. Soccer: Cerritos named NSCAA National Champions for fourth time
December 6, 2015
W. Soccer: Cerritos captures 4th straight state title
December 4, 2015
W. Soccer: Cerritos 'corners' the market in goals
November 28, 2015
W. Soccer: Amber Whitmore's goal sends Falcons to Final Four
November 24, 2015
W. Soccer: Cerritos comes back in OT for win
November 21, 2015
W. Soccer: Falcons open defense of state title
November 17, 2015
W. Soccer: Defending state champs seeded #4 for playoffs
November 13, 2015
W. Soccer: Records fall in 18-0 win
November 10, 2015
W. Soccer: Falcons earn 3-1 win over El Camino
November 6, 2015
W. Soccer: Cerritos clinches 10th straight conference title
November 3, 2015
W. Soccer: Duo scores two goals each in conference win
October 30, 2015
W. Soccer: Late goal secures 3-2 win for the Falcons
October 27, 2015
W. Soccer: Unbeaten streak extends to 34 games with 5-1 win
October 23, 2015
W. Soccer: Falcons play to scoreless draw
October 20, 2015
W. Soccer: Records fall in win over ECC Compton Center
October 16, 2015
W. Soccer: Three-goal first half leads Falcons to win
October 13, 2015
W. Soccer: Single goal enough to post win
October 9, 2015
W. Soccer: Falcons post 6-0 shutout win over Pasadena City
October 6, 2015
W. Soccer: Cerritos posts third shutout of the season
October 2, 2015
W. Soccer: Late goals allow Cerritos to post 3-1 win
September 29, 2015
W. Soccer: Second half goal holds up in 1-0 win
September 26, 2015
W. Soccer: Three late goals propel Falcons to win
September 19, 2015
W. Soccer: Cerritos wraps up trip with 5-2 win
September 17, 2015
W. Soccer: Team opens Texas trip with a win
September 11, 2015
W. Soccer: Falcons score late to secure 1-1 tie
September 4, 2015
W. Soccer: Team posts 4-0 shutout over Irvine Valley
August 29, 2015
W. Soccer: Late goal earns Falcons first win of the season
August 27, 2015
W. Soccer: Team opens season with 2-2 draw