On the strength of their 12-11 South Coast Conference overtime win on Wednesday afternoon at Long Beach City College, the Cerritos College women's water polo team cleared one of their big hurdles on their journey to a conference title. The Falcons (9-1, 2-0) ttok an early lead over the Vikings (4-2, 1-1) and then held off their crosstown rivals before scoring twice in the second overtime to pull out the win. The team will travel to Pasadena City College next Wednesday in a 3:00 SCC contest.

Cerritos cruised to an 8-3 second quarter lead after sophomore Katherine Gabayeron (Cerritos HS) scored with :44 seconds left. But the Vikings were able to tie the game at 9-9 after Kim Lopez scored a goal for  LBCC with 1:37 remaining. The Falcons regained the lead moments later when freshman Angelica Hernandez (El Rancho HS) scored at the 1:24 mark. But the Vikings weren't done as Lopez notched her second goal with an impressive shot from deep to tie the game at 10 with just :21 seconds remaining to send the contest to overtime.

In the first extra period, LBCC received a goal from Jackie Rojas at the 1:53 mark for their first lead of the game. But the advantage wouldn't last long, as Hernandez, who scored eight goals on the day, tied the contest with 2:05 left and then scored the game-winning goal with a man advantage with 1:01 left on the clock.

A key component to the win was the play of sophomore goalkeeper Sharon Ku (Cerritos HS), who turned away 11 shots, made three steals and even assisted on a pair of goals. Freshman Jasmine Villalpando (Montebello HS) assisted on four goals and recorded three steals, while Hernadez also led the team with four steals on the day. Freshman Carla Harvey (Potomac Falls, VA HS) contributed two assists and steals in the win.