The Cerritos Men’s Soccer team defeated East Los Angeles College on home soil 8-1 on Oct. 23. The Falcons obtained their 12th victory of the season in 15 matches.
Freshman forwards No. 9 Kevin Diaz and No. 26 Bryan Villalobos scored twice in the game, both forwards have 10 and seven goals respectively this season.
Meanwhile, sophomore midfielder No. 10 Erick Gallinar scored a penalty kick that was given before the hour mark.
Sophomore midfielders No. 6 Esteban Camacho, No. 8 Oscar Penate and No. 21 Bryan Rodriguez also were on the scoresheet for Cerritos.
Just like the previous match, Cerritos dominated from beginning to end. However, ELAC did get a goal back late in the second period. Sophomore goalkeeper No. 1 Jordan Aldama was very disappointed even after the game that he did not get a shutout.
It was a challenge for defense to stop the Falcons’ offense which scored six goals, including a penalty kick.
In the 57th minute, Freshman midfielder No. 24 Carlos Perez wanted to score however, he was tackled in the penalty area by ELAC midfielder No. 7 Guillermo Guzman. The referee gave a penalty kick for Cerritos, midfielder Gallinar scored his first goal of the campaign.
In the 68th minute midfielder Penate, forward Diaz gave brilliant passes to midfielder Camacho and each touched the ball once. Camacho scored past ELAC freshman goalkeeper Horacio Aguirre.
Head Coach Benjamin Artiaga stated after the game, “We are bummed out for that late goal we conceded. We put out a clinic on the field, we made ELAC work during the 90 minutes.”
Forward Villalobos when asked on the team’s performance said, “Everyone played their role, from the substitutes to the starters.”
When asked about the goals scored in this match he stated, “It feels great to score goals especially when I was out last year due to injury.”
Sophomore defender No. 5 Luis Lira reflected on the win and said, “Defensively we were very good. Offensively we were very well executed.”
Lira, also returning from an injury, said, “It feels good to play with my team. I want to go all the way to the final match and hopefully win a championship.”
Freshman forward No. 19 Brandon Pelayo said, “I felt that we focused on ball possession. Everyone did their work today.”
When asked about the team’s next matches Pelayo stated, “We take care of business by training hard during our practices. Our goal is to win, everyone has to link up to score. As long as we possess the ball we can win.”
Cerritos Men’s Soccer will play conference rivals Los Angeles Harbor College on Oct. 26 at home, four days later on Oct. 30 Cerritos will travel to Compton College.
Check out the game’s info here.
