Posted: Oct 22, 2022
As one of the three hosts of the Battle at the Beach Tournament, the Cerritos College women's water polo team picked up one win in their four games over the weekend. On Friday, the Falcons dropped a 16-6 decision to Saddleback College and followed that with a 14-10 decision over Cuesta College. They followed that with a 12-9 loss against Sierra College and then suffered a 12-9 defeat to Citrus College, in the 11th place game. The team will now travel to El Camino College on Wednesday in their final South Coast Conference match before the conference tournament.
Cerritos vs. Saddleback: The Falcons fell behind early against the Gauchos (16-9) and ended up trailing 9-2 at halftime. Unable to score consecutive goals in the game, Cerritos was able to score on only six of their 26 shot attempts and were victimized by 12 turnovers. Sophomore Angelina Romero (Schurr HS) provided the majority of the offense with four goals, while sophomores Miranda Alvarez (Schurr HS) and Kaya Glynn (Cerritos HS) each assisted on a pair of goals. Freshman goalkeeper Alyssa Sorrells (Bell Gardens HS) moved into second place in the state after her 15 saves.
Cerritos vs. Cuesta: Facing the state leader in goals, the Falcons jumped out to a 6-1 lead over the Cougars (10-11) in their second game of the day. Romero, who ranks third in the state in goals (70), scored three of the team's six goals in the first period and kept Cuesta's Anna Kreowoski (109 goals) off the board until late in the second quarter. After Romero's fourth goal of the game with 1:26 left in the first half, Cerritos led, 9-4 heading into halftime. The Cougars opened the third quarter by scoring the first two goals, but Romero countered with a pair, with Alvarez also scoring to retain a 12-6 advantage. Cuesta made another run and scored four straight to make it 12-10 before sophomore Jillian Crockett (Cerritos HS) and freshman Melissa Prata (Downey HS) closed out the scoring. Romero (five goals), Prata (four goals) and Alvarez (three goals) led the scoring, with Alvarez and Glynn each assisting on four goals. Romero and Glynn led the defense with nine combined steals, while Sorrells posted 12 saves.
Cerritos vs. Sierra: In their first game on Saturday, the Falcons and Wolverines were tied 5-5 at halftime after a flurry of goals in the final 1:30 of the second quarter. Romero, Prata and Alvarez all scored in 1:19 with the third goal coming with :11 seconds left for a 5-4 lead. Sierra was able to tie the game on a goal at the buzzer. Cerritos opened the second half with consecutive goals from Romero and freshman Anabella Gama (Cerritos HS) for a 7-5 advantage. Sierra scored the next three goals of the game, including one with 6:11 left in the fourth quarter to take an 8-7 lead. Crockett knotted the game at 8-8 on her goal with 5:24 remaining, which would be the last time the game was tied. The Wolverines posted the next three goals in a 1:15 span to take the largest lead of the game, and held on for the win. Romero scored three times and Prata led the team with four steals. Sorrells, who also had two steals, turned away nine shots.
Cerritos vs. Citrus: Taking on the Owls in the 11th place game of the tournament, the Falcons scored the first and last goal of the opening period, with Citrus scoring four times in between. Goals by Romero and Glynn in the second quarter tied the game at 4-4, until the Owls scored four of the next five goals for an 8-5 lead they would not relinquish. A pair of goals by Romero got the team to within 9-7 with 5:25 remaining in the game, but Citrus responded with two straight goals to regain their four-goal advantage. Romero led the team with four goals, with Alvarez assisting on four goals and added three steals.
