Ruby Leon scored twice while Miranda Madrid and Elizabeth Vazquez also tacked on tallies, powering the Cerritos College women’s soccer team to a 4-0 victory over Palomar College on Friday in its first home game of the season.
An unconvincing first half failed to yield any goals, but a flurry of shots opened up the flood gates for Cerritos in the second half.
Madrid opened up the scoring less than a minute into the second half, when she found herself on the receiving end of a Vanessa Monreal cross.
It took another 22 minutes for Cerritos to double its lead. Jessica Ortiz played a through ball over the defense to Leon, who finished off the play by chipping onrushing goalkeeper Chelsea Vallier.
Leon scored again eight minutes later after receiving another ball over the top of the defense from Nancy Gandarilla and slotting it into the bottom left corner.
Elizabeth Vazquez finished off the scoring by hammering home her first goal of the season.
Leon penetrated into the box and dropped the ball back to Vazquez, who tucked her shot just inside the far post from the top left corner of the box.
The convincing finish was in stark contrast to a mediocre first half in which Madrid headed a ball over the crossbar of an open goal and Daniela Mendez’s attempt from eight yards out was turned away by Vallier.
“We didn’t play well in the first half,” head coach Ruben Gonzalez conceded.
“In the second half, we went with the lineup we had against Cosumnes River that played well for us. That worked out well.”
The biggest change in the lineup in the second half was Leon, who moved from a central midfield role to striker.
According to Gonzalez, “Ruby was trying to do too much, so we decided to take some of the responsibility off of her shoulders and let her concentrate on scoring goals.”
For Leon, the move to striker in the second half was a perfect fit as she scored two goals once she moved up top and partnered with Gandarillas.
“I’m real comfortable playing forward, so it wasn’t a big deal,” Leon said. “[Gandarillas and I] have a good connection.”
The lineup change also opened up space for Ortiz to control the middle of the field.
“The first half we were rushing a little too much,” Ortiz noted. “In the second half it was my responsibility to be able to get control of the ball and slow things down a little.”
Despite the slow start offensively, the Cerritos defense continued to prove why it has yet to allow a goal this season with strong play for the full 90 minutes. Goalkeeper Erika Trejio was virtually untested throughout the match and recorded one save on Palomar’s lone shot attempt.
“Defensively, we’re playing well. We’re trying to build on that. We’re very excited about not giving up a goal yet,” Gonzalez said.
Cerritos (6-0-0) looks to continue its perfect start to the season and extend its 45 game unbeaten streak when the Falcons face off against Taft (2-3-2) on Tuesday at home.
