On Friday, the Cerritos College women's water polo team posted a pair of wins in the South Coast Conference Tournament, which sends them to the championship game on Saturday. Serving as the host of the tournament, the #3-seeded Falcons (14-12) will face #1-seeded Long Beach City College at 4:00 p.m. in the championship game.

The day opened with the team scoring the first 16 goals against East Los Angeles College on their way to a 19-1 win. Freshman Monserrat Rodriguez (Western HS) scored a season-high seven goals in the win, as nine different players scored at least once. Freshman Ceci Ortiz-Miranda (El Rancho HS) added three goals and three steals, with freshman goalie Jayden-Starr Smith (Buena Park HS) turning away three shots in one of the team's most convincing wins.

That set them up against Mt. San Antonio College, who defeated the Falcons, 11-7 in their first meeting. After the #2-seeded Mounties opened the scoring, Cerritos responded with four consecutive goals in the first period, with Jasmine Escorcia (Western HS) accounting for two of them.

The scoring ran dry in the second period, with Mt. SAC scoring three times to tie the game at 4-4 heading into halftime. The Mounties took their last lead of the day when they scored in the third period, with the Falcons putting everything together on offense and defense to the tune of eight straight goals to put the game out of reach.

Escorcia scored two more goals in the third period and assisted on another goal, with Cerritos converting three of their four 5-meter shots during their offensive run.

As a team, the Falcons had 20 steals against Mt. SAC, with Rodriguez recording six steals and freshman Isabella Ochoa (California HS) adding five steals to go with her two goals (both 5-meter) and two assists. Escorcia led the team with five goals, with freshman Isabelle Varela (Valencia HS) playing a solid game with two goals, two assists and a steal. Smith posted nine saves in goal and also was aggressive enough to register a trio of steals.

Photos by Daryl Peterson