The Cerritos College Men’s Soccer team obtained their second victory of the season against Fullerton College by 3-1 on Tuesday, Aug. 27. Despite the Hornets scoring early in the game, the Falcons would come back to win.
In the 2nd minute of the game, Fullerton took the lead when midfielder No. 12 Alejandro Castillo assisted defender No. 2 Marco Polo for the 0-1 score.
In the 11th minute, a corner kick was awarded for Cerritos, sophomore forward No. 9 Kevin Diaz assisted sophomore defender No. 3 Ernesto Cueva who headed the ball in the back of the net. Beating Hornets’ goalkeeper No. 1 Andres Ramirez to equalize for the Falcons.
Two minutes before halftime, the Falcons would score their second goal to take a 2-1 lead thanks to another assist from Diaz, sophomore midfielder No. 10 Bryan Ortega would score his first goal of the season.
In the second half, Fullerton had eight shots-on-goal, including a penalty kick. The Hornets were looking for an equalizing goal, meanwhile the Falcons were looking for a third goal to seal the win.
Fullerton had 14 fouls meanwhile Cerritos had only six fouls. In the second half, two Hornet midfielders were cautioned by the referee. Castillo in the 59th minute and Steve Perez in the 90th minute.
Cerritos gave away a penalty kick in the 84th minute of the match after a handball. Freshman goalkeeper No. 0 Luis Enciso would deny the equalizer by saving the penalty kick from midfielder Perez.
For the freshman goalie it was one of seven saves throughout the 90 minutes.
The Falcons would score in stoppage time after midfielder Perez was given a yellow card. Sophomore forwrard No. 8 Leonel Perez led the ball to sophomore defender No. 5 Eugene Martinez who chipped Fullerton goalkeeper Ramirez to score the third goal in the 92nd minute.
When questioned on the team’s performance head coach Artiaga said, “Our mindset changed. Today the team played like champions. Every 50/50 ball the team fought throughout the game they won.”
When asked about the goal conceded early in the game Artiaga stated, “I am glad the goal came from the beginning [of the match], but that didn’t stop the guys from fighting back to win the game.”
Defender Cueva when asked on his goal scored said, “It feels good to score I saw the ball at the first post and headed the ball in.”
Midfielder Ortega when asked on the second goal and the team performance stated, “I feel very good, we kept attacking and I scored the second goal. When we conceded early, we didn’t give up and we gave it our best.”
The defending state and national champions will travel to Northern California to play the Hartnell Tournament on Friday, Aug. 30 and Sunday, Sept. 1. After that tournament the Falcons will play the rematch of the 2018 championship game against Golden West Rustlers on Friday, Sept. 6 at 3 p.m.
