For the second time in the program's history, the Cerritos College women's soccer team has been named the Division III (non-scholarship) National Champions by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). The Falcons, who won the CCCAA State Championship with a 2-0 win over Santiago Canyon College, also won the National Championship in 2008 after they captured their second state title in a row.

"When I saw that we were named the National Champions, my first thought was that I was extremely happy for the program," said head coach Ruben Gonzalez, who has led his teams to both National Championships, three state titles and seven straight South Coast Conference championships. "The fact that we beat Santigo Canyon, who was ranked #1, Sierra twice, Santa Barbara, Ventura twice, Mt. San Antonio and tied San Francisco had to have played a part in determining the final ranking. Nobody played a tougher schedule this season than we did."

The Falcons, who opened the season by playing their first 10 games on the road, set up the first three weeks to be Friday-Sunday games, which is the same format of the state championships. Gonzalez said it was to help prepare his team for the playoffs, while at the same time, playing some of the toughest teams in the state on their home field. Cerritos played six of the top 20 teams in the final national ranking and went 7-0-2. The team also finished the season as a unanimous selection in the final state ranking by the California Community College Sports Information Association (CCCSIA) rankings.

"This is a great accomplishment by a great team," added Gonzalez. "If you look at the three teams that were ranked ahead of us before the state tournament, we beat two of them.

Gonzalez will be travelling to Indianapolis, IN for the NSCAA Convention on January 16-20, 2013, where he will accept the National Championship plaque for the second time. He is hoping that sophomore Lauren Nanez would be able to join him to accept the National Player of the Year Award, which will be announced in the next week or two, as will the National Coach of the Year, an award Gonzalez has yet to receive. Nanez was named the state tournament's Most Valuable Player and has been selected the conference's Player of the Year two seasons in a row.

Photo by Daryl Peterson