Despite having 10 freshmen players on the team, the Cerritos College Falcons defeated the El Camino-Compton Center Tartars 2-0 at home on Friday Nov.13.

The first goal, however, was an own goal scored by the Tartars in the first 20 minutes of the first half.

Head coach Benny Artiaga said, “We played well, we really took it to them. We haven’t had the kind of season we would have liked.”

He added that these are the kinds of games that benefit the freshman players, to show them what it takes to win.

He said about the team’s rocky season, “[Having] a young team, you make mistakes and we’re coming off of state championships so the expectations are what we expect, but having 19 freshmen it’s not always the case.”

“Overall I’m proud of them,” Artiaga said.

The Falcons’ offense and defense was formidable, while the the Tartars’ defense presented a nice counter-balance to the game’s flow.

Head coach for the Tartars, Jose Garcia, said, “We’re a little bothered as coaches because of the fact that we didn’t make it into playoffs the guys kind of just have up and they came just to show up,”

He added, “We were first, second throughout the season and that’s what kept us fighting, and the moment we realized we weren’t going to make the playoffs, morale went down,

“That’s what hurts as a coach, […] just the way they compete,” Garcia said.

The winning goal for the Falcons was scored by forward Mark Cruz, after a set up from forward Christian Carillo.

Carrillo said, “I have a big body so I’m pretty good at holding off defenders so I made some space for myself and I expected someone to be close to the goal so I played it.”

He added, “[The Tartars] didn’t give up, they weren’t much of a competitor, but they didn’t stop working. We had to stay focused and they were a good team to build our confidence and work on things we have to get better at.”