Facing the #2-ranked team in the country on Friday afternoon, the Cerritos College women's soccer team took another step to moving back to the top of the national rankings. The Falcons (13-1-0) handed host Chaffey College (12-1-2) their first loss of the season, when a second-half goal held up for a 1-0 victory. At the start of the week, the Panthers were ranked #2 in the country by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll, while Cerritos came in at #3. The Falcons are the defending NSCAA Division III (non-scholarship) national champions and have won three of the last four titles, along with four straight CCCAA state championships.

The game was a South Coast Conference crossover game, with Cerritos continuing their crossover schedule with a 2:00 p.m. home game against East Los Angeles College next Tuesday.

After a scoreless first half, where Cerritos held Chaffey without a shot on goal, the team finally got on the board in the 51st minute. The goal came when sophomore Carolina Jaramillo (Cetis 54, Tijuana HS) collected the ball at midfield and located freshman Itzel Ballesteros (Maywood Academy HS) on the right side of the field. The lead pass sent Ballesteros in alone against Panthers goalie Kenya Grande and she buried her team-leading 15th goal of the season.

Coming into the game, Chaffey had only allowed only three goals all season and had posted 11 shutouts, including their last two games.

Falcon goalkeeper Ruby Nichols (Bishop Amat HS) turned away three second half shots to earn her sixth shutout of the season and fourth in a row. She was aided by a stellar defense, led by sophomores Dana Jacobs (Yorba Linda HS/San Francisco State University), Adriana Velasquez (Long Beach Jordan HS), Yaqualin Garcia(Paramount HS) and Amber Whitmore (Los Alamitos HS). Cerritos was able to get just four shots on goal.