Getting another shot at El Camino College at home on Friday, the Cerritos College men's soccer team was looking to avenge their season-ending playoff loss last year. After the teams played the first 45 minutes, the Warriors, who are ranked #1 in the nation, held a 2-1 lead and would maintain that for their second consecutive win over the Falcons on their home field. They are the first team to hand Cerritos consecutive losses on their field in over a decade. The South Coast Conference setback dropped the Falcons to 6-4-1 on the year and 1-1-0 in conference play. The team will host Los Angeles Harbor College in a 2:00 p.m. conference match next Tuesday.
El Camino opened a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute when Aldahir Rua scored on a one-time in front of the net after a crossing pass from Ty Kerns. The shot got past sophomore goalkeeper Juan Pablo Camacho (Norwalk HS), who would come up with several outstanding saves to keep the Falcons in the game.
Later in the first half, freshman Donavan Perez (South East HS) was able to maintain control of the ball in front of the net and fed freshman Chris Ramirez (Bishop Mora Salesian HS), who was able to fire a shot across the net and tie the game in the 30th minute. Cerritos had just started taking control of the game and put pressure on the Warrior defense and goalkeeper for a solid 10 minutes. Earlier in the half, sophomore Kevin Meza (ASU Preparatory Academy HS/Northern Illinois University) saw his clean shot hit the outside of the post in the 15th minute, which would have been a quick answer to the El Camino goal.
Right before halftime, the Warriors scored what would be the game-winning goal, as Marvin Gamez was able to clean up a loose ball in front of the goal and squeezed a shot inside the left post. The play was set on as a set piece with Alex Salas sending the ball into a crowd of people in front of the net that landed in front of Gamez.
"This was a difficult game to swallow today, as I felt we played well enough to win," said head coach Benny Artiaga. "El Camino has put together a great team this year, but we weren't ready to bow down to anyone. Give them all the credit for making the plays they had to and we will learn and continue to get better"
Cerritos did get eight shots on goal, with freshman Miguel Gonzalez accounting for three of them. Camacho turned away seven El Camino shots in goal.
Photos by Daryl Peterson
