In one of their toughest tournaments of the season, the Cerritos College men's water polo team took on three teams at the Riverside City Tournament that they will potentially face in the playoffs later this year. Although the Falcons (10-6) lost three of those four games, they have now faced each of them multiple times and can make adjustments should they face-off in future meetings. On Friday, Cerritos dropped decisions to Orange Coast College (17-11) and Grossmont College (14-10), while they followed that on Saturday with an 18-9 win over Rio Hondo College and closed out with a 13-8 loss to Golden West College. Of the six losses by the Falcons this season, four were against the teams at the tournament. Another loss came against rival Long Beach City College, who they will host at 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday in a crucial South Coast Conference match.

Cerritos vs. Orange Coast: Taking on the host Pirates for the second time in as many games, the teams were knotted at 3-3 after the first quarter. The Falcons took brief 4-3 and 5-4 leads on goals by sophomore Mario Vanzillotta (Colegio Palas HS, Brazil) and freshman Michael Reyes (Cerritos HS), but after that, it was Orange Coast that started to take over the game. They scored five of the last six goals in the half and then opened the third period with four consecutive goals before the Falcons could respond in the final minute on a tally by Reyes. Down 13-7 with eight minutes remaining, Cerritos could only match the goal output in the fourth and went down to defeat. Sophomore Ben Neppl (Long Beach Millikan HS/Long Beach City College) led the team with three goals, while Reyes and sophomore Seamus MacDonald (Long Beach Millikan HS) each posted a pair of goals. Freshman goalkeeper Owen Fahringer (Long Beach Millikan HS) turned away seven shots and suffered only his second loss of the season.

Cerritos vs. Grossmont: In their second meeting of the season against the Griffins, the Falcons were also looking for their second win. They struggled offensively in the first half and found themselves playing from behind for most of the game. Limited to just one goal in the first quarter, Cerritos did find the back of the net four times in the second quarter, but just couldn't gain any momentum against Grossmont, who received five goals from Garrett Durado. Sophomore Joey Hurtado (Cerritos HS) and freshman Dominic Hernandez (Schurr HS) each scored three times, but the Falcons were victimized by 15 turnovers. Fahringer played well in goal with his 12 saves, while the team had 10 steals with four posting two each.

Cerritos vs. Rio Hondo: For the third time in as many meetings, the Falcons came away with a win over the Roadrunners, who are South Coast Conference foes. Looking to get off to a quick start, Cerritos went ahead 4-1 after the first quarter and then added eight goals in the second for a 12-2 lead at intermission. MacDonald and Neppl each scored twice in that all-important second quarter, while freshman Axel Pedroza (Californai HS) had goals in each of the first two periods. It was 15-4 after three quarters, with the Falcons going on for the convincing win. By the end of the game, 11 different players had scored for Cerritos, with MacDonald and Neppl each recording three goals and a trio of others scoring twice. Freshman Eric Estrada (Cerritos HS) assisted on three of the goals with Hurtado recording three of the team's 13 steals. For the third game in a row, Fahringer was in goal and played well in posting eight saves.

Cerritos vs. Golden West: The tournament concluded with the Falcons coming up short against the Rustlers, winners of six state championships in the last decade, for the second time this year. A six-goal first quarter by Golden West put Cerritos in the position of playing catch-up, as they were down, 6-3, including being behind 5-1 early in the game. The Rustlers started the second half the way they came out in the first half and produced four of the first five goals in the third quarter and held a comfortable 12-5 advantage. Cerritos did receive four goals from Hernandez, while the defense did a good job of keeping the Rustlers off balance on offense at times and recorded 10 steals, with three coming from freshman Abimael Anorve (Mira Costa HS). But the other side of the coin, the Falcons were victimized by 20 turnovers, which hurt their chances. Once again, Fahringer was superb at times in goal with 12 saves and added a save.