This past weekend, Friday, Oct. 2, Cerritos College men’s soccer upped their conference standing 2-0 defeating LA Harbor.
Friday was a win that solidified the team.
It’s no secret that men’s soccer had a bumpy preseason ending with a record of 0-5-2.
But according to head coach Benny Artiaga that bumpy preseason is going to be the key to success in conference.
“The team is starting to get it and gain more experience,” Artiaga said. “I tell the [players] ‘you’re no longer freshman it is time to play more like sophomores’ and now they’re starting to mature in front of our very eyes.”
This win may be a turning point for the team, as it works together and continues to feed off each other’s energy, winning may be a reoccurrence.
“The [team] clicked, we had better communication and the subs did what they needed to do,” center back Jason Orejel said.
LA Harbor started off with an early goal against Cerritos; the first goal of the game.
It proved to be their last of the game as Cerritos quickly fired back.
Team captain Christian Carrillo, hit back with a goal of his own making it 1-1.
The rest of the half was a stalemate with continuous possession changes lasting through the rest of the half.
“We started off soft. Playing what was more like kickball and sitting back not being as aggressive as we needed to be,” forward Mark Cruz said.
There was an obvious tendency to play back and not push the opponent’s defense as much as needed.
This was only described as “frustrating” by goalkeeper Jaime Sanchez.
The second half started off with an obvious difference.
“Little mistakes that were being made in the first half were getting cleaned up and the team was cohesion was coming back,” Artiaga said.
The team took more control of the game with the possession favoring the home team, Cerritos College.
With the game starting to come to a close it seemed as the a tie was in the works.
Freshman Frank Orozco, in the 79th minute scored the second goal with the assistance from midfielder Mark Sanchez.
And to solidify the win in the 90th minute, right before the final whistle, Carrillo scored the third team goal and his second of the game.
Final score was 3-1 Cerritos College victory.
A rival match will be played against Mt. San Antonio College on Oct. 6 who have a record of 6-2-1 this season.
