For the second year in a row and fifth time in the last six seasons, the Cerritos College men's soccer team has won the South Coast Conference South Division championship. The Falcons (16-0-2, 8-0-0), who are ranked #2 in the nation by United Soccer Coaches among Division III (non-scholarship) schools and #1 in the state, defeated Compton College, 7-0 on Friday. The team closes out the conference regular season next Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. when they host East Los Angeles College. Cerritos will enter the South Coast Conference Tournament as the #1 seed and earn a first round bye.

"I'm very proud of our players and coaches," said head coach Benny Artiaga. "They have done a wonderful job taking one game at a time. Our captains have done a great job of keeping the group hungry and this was an important goal for us to accomplish."

The Falcons, who outshot the Tartars (4-8-4, 2-4-2), 28-3, led 2-0 at halftime, as the combination of freshman Kobe Chavez (North Hollywood HS) and sophomore Gabriel Oropeza (Banning HS/Hope International University) did most of the damage. In the 21st minute, freshman Julian Vazquez (Salesian HS) brought the ball in from midfield to begin the play. He fed the ball to Chavez, who in turn sent a pass to Oropeza, where he fired a shot into the back of the net for his first of two goals on the day. Prior to the end of the first half, Oropeza returned the favor, as he stole the ball and made his way toward Compton territory. He sent a pass into the middle of the field to Chavez, who finished the play with an open shot into the net.

The duo of Chavez and Oropeza combined for four goals and four assists on the day.

A five-goal second half showed more of the Falcons domination in the game, as every healthy player in uniform saw action and received shots from 13 different players. Oropeza and Chavez accounted for the first two goals of the second half for a 4-0 lead, while sophomore Antonio Negrete (St. John Bosco HS) grabbed a loose ball off a corner kick from Oropeza for the team's fifth goal in the 66th minute. 

Vazquez, who assisted on the team's first goal, scored one of his own on a nice play where sophomore Christian Perez (Paramount HS) got things going. He set up Oropeza for a hat trick, but his shot was blocked before it reached the net, with Vazquez there to clean things up and score in the 75th minute. In the final seconds of the game, Perez was rewarded by scoring a goal, as he received a pass from Andrew Valencia (Bishop Mora Salesian HS), balanced himself as he turned toward the goal and fired a shot into an open space in the net.

Photos by Daryl Peterson