Ruby Leon scored two goals and assisted on Cerritos’ other two goals to lead the Falcons past San Diego Mesa, 4-0, in the opening round of the playoffs on Nov. 21.
The victory sets up a second round meeting between Cerritos, the No. 1 ranked team in the nation to begin the season, and the current No. 1 team in the nation, Santiago Canyon.
The Falcons went up early against San Diego Mesa when Leon converted a penalty kick in the second minute after Tatiana Cortes was tripped up in the box.
The early goal would be the only score of the first half, as the Cerritos and the Pacific Coast Conference champions matched up evenly in the first 45 minutes of play.
“We played pretty defensively in the first half because the sun was in our eyes. We were more focused on not letting them score. The second half we took advantage of the sun and attacked more,” explained Leon.
Leon led the attack when she scored again 20 minutes into the second half when the ball landed at her feet after a deflected free kick. She collected the ball and curled a shot inside the far post to make double the lead.
Ten minutes later, Leon found Nancy Gandarilla in front of the goal and Gandarilla drilled home her 15th goal of the season.
Moments later, Daniela Mendez capped off the scoring by heading home another Leon pass from six yards out.
“We were fortunate to get that PK at the beginning. I didn’t see it from my angle, but it’s good we were able to score early, said head coach Ruben Gonzalez.
“(San Diego Mesa is) a good team, they’re conference champions. We had to play well to beat them,” he added.
Gonzalez credits the offensive display of the second half to a tactical change on the Olympians’ part, along with his squad’s fitness.
“(San Diego Mesa) looked to attack more directly in the second half and put another forward up top. That really opened up more space for us and we took advantage, he pointed out. “Our fitness level is very high, and we’re also finally getting healthy again after having some injuries in the past few weeks.”
Tuesday’s game at Santiago Canyon will possibly be the biggest test of the postseason for Cerritos. Although the Hawks are ranked No. 1 in the nation, the Falcons are not intimidated by the task at hand.
“We have to be very focused on Tuesday. I think whichever team capitalizes on the other’s mistakes will end up winning,” declared Gonzalez.
As for Leon, she anticipates the same thing on Tuesday as she has the rest of the season.
She said, “I expect everyone to come out and play hard with a lot of heart. I think everyone is going to play for the team, not just themselves.”
| Match Stats | Cerritos | SD Mesa |
| Shots (on target) | 20 (10) | 7 (4) |
| Corners | 3 | 2 |
| Fouls | 20 | 6 |
| Offsides | 2 | 0 |
| Saves | 4 | 6 |
| Yellow Cards | 1 | 0 |
| Red Cards | 0 | 0 |
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