Going up against nemesis Mt. San Antonio College in a crucial South Coast Conference match on Wednesday, the Cerritos College men's water polo team knew they would be without leading goal scorer, Joshua Lamberton (Glendora HS). The Falcons were able to score goals at the right time and matched that with a superb defensive effort to register a 13-9 victory.

The win moves the Falcons (16-7, 3-0) into sole possession of first place in conference play and improved their record at home to 7-0. The team will spend this weekend competing in the Golden West Tournament.

In the win over the Mounties (17-7, 2-1), Cerritos opened a quick 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by sophomores Allan Jimenez (Schurr HS) and Kobe Hurtado (Cerritos HS). They took a 4-2 lead into the second period and after surrendering the first goal, countered with four straight to hold an 8-3 advantage at intermission. Freshman Jacob Colon (Schurr HS) recorded a pair of goals in the period, while the defense kept Mt. SAC off the scoreboard after the first goal.

 

The Mounties could only get to within three goals the remainder of the game, with the Falcon defense posting 12 steals and sophomore goalkeeper Diego Campos (Downey HS) coming up huge with nine saves.

 

The trio of Colon, Hurtado and Jimenez all scored three times for a balanced offensive attack, while Colon was also effective in giving Cerritos five 6-on-5 advantages. Sophomore Ruben Montoya (California HS) assisted on four of the team's goals, with three others recording a pair of assists.