After last week’s surprise loss to ECC, Cerritos men’s soccer needed a win to keep its hopes alive of defending its South Coast Conference title.
The Falcons came out a little sloppy to begin the match, they controlled the ball on their side of the field but continued giving the ball away to LBCC ruining good scoring opportunities.
LBCC on offense looked controlled and were efficient to start, getting the first shot of the game which was saved by goalie Danny Lizama who would be challenged.
The first goal came in the 25th minute on a nice drive down the line by German Rivas who took a shot, the rebound came out to Eddie Valencia who fed Miguel Hernandez for the first goal.
LBCC had a quick response scoring four minutes later. To make things worse All American Luis Gonzalez going for a loose ball was injured and walked off the field under his own power.
Cerritos rallied around its leaders injury and scored in the 38th minute, Ruben Gonzalez won a free ball, was kicked in the face, kept playing after there was no whistle, took the ball to the box and gave a sweet pass to Cesar Castillo for the 2-1 advantage heading into the half.
Cerritos had the momentum going into the half, but LBCC didn’t care, scoring within the first five minutes of the second half.
Eight minutes after the goal Gonzalez returned to the match. Shortly after he returned, he took a couple of LBCC defenders, nearly fell, then took a great left footed shot just inside the box and beat the keeper to the far left post getting the go ahead goal.
Cerritos added a reassurance goal in the 76th minute to put the game out of reach.
A win for the Falcons over LBCC improves their record to (8-2-1) in conference and looking sharp heading into Friday’s match against LA Harbor.
“I think they played really good, they didn’t necessarily put the team away like they normally do, but the guys did exactly what we told them to do and I was really proud of that and their effort out there,” said coach Artiaga.
“However, I did feel we could’ve played a little better defensively, specifically contesting balls in the air. We let too many of those balls bounce and it led to their first goal and it gave them life.”
“I came in from Friday’s match with a bruise then todays hit in the first half, I’m just going to rest until this Friday and be fresh and ready for LA Harbor,” said Gonzalez of his injuries in his last two matches.
Cerritos looks to stay alive in conference against a tough LA Harbor team.
