Salvador Melendrez’s first goal of the season was enough to see Cerritos beat Golden West 1-0 on Friday.
Melendrez streaked down the right wing and struck a volley from the corner of the box in the 7th minute for the Falcons’ only goal. The goal was a true stroke of beauty, but the same cannot be said for the Falcons’ performance overall.
“It’s not always going to look pretty,” admitted head coach Benny Artiaga. “But we did what we had to do in order to win.”
Cerritos controlled the game for most of the first half with its quick passing and side to side play. Melendrez benefitted from this quick play and made the most of the space he was given throughout the first half.
“It’s really exciting to finally get my first goal and have it be the game winner.
“Coach just kept telling me to play within the system, and it gave me space to run. Our field is bigger than most others so it gave me more room to work,” exclaimed Melendrez.
Melendrez and his teammates had a much tougher time in the second half, as goalkeeper Danny Lizama was forced to make a half a dozen saves to fend off Golden West’s attack. Lizama responded to the increased pressure with three diving saves over a span of five minutes, turning away multiple attempts from strikers JT Thompson and Austin Rovazzinni.
“At times I did have to come up big,” conceded Lizama. “[Golden West] was attacking a lot and the defense did let down a bit, but they were able to pick it back up.”
After a solid start, the Falcons’ defensive play in the second half went back and forth between tremendous interceptions, and poor giveaways in the back. However, credit Golden West with being able to make the necessary adjustments in order to take Cerritos away from its game and create opportunities on offense.
“I told the guys that they needed to stay patient and not all go forward at once,” explained Rustlers head coach Matt Wells.
“We were able to put some pressure on them in the second half, but the bounces just didn’t go our way.”
Artiaga agreed that “Golden West did a very good job pressuring and slowing us down. We got caught up playing into their tempo.”
Although the quality of play may have left much to be desired on the part of the Falcons, Artiaga’s squad once again was able to extend its unbeaten record to 5-0-1 on the season. And that’s what‘s most important noted striker Luis Gonzalez.
“We didn’t play too well, but we got the [win]. That’s what really matters. As long as we can do that, we’ll be OK,” he said.
Cerritos will attempt to sharpen its play on Tuesday, when it hosts Orange Coast College at 2 p.m.
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