With two consecutive wins under their belt, the Cerritos College men’s soccer team traveled to Pasadena City College looking to continue with its constant improvements to establish itself at the top of the South Coast Conference.
Having made preparations during the week at practice acknowledging Pasadena’s small and short width field, the Falcons seemed prepared for short throw ins and constant threats off of throw ins directly on goal.
Once it was game time, however, these preparations had been proven worthless.
The Pasadena City College Lancers took advantage of their home field knowledge and style of play, and had already established a 2-0 lead within the first sixteen minutes of the half.
Sophomore defender Gabriel Rivera expressed his frustration after the game, stating that “In the first half we came out slow.
“We practiced on a small field at practice because all they would do is throw the ball in and then wait for the flick and that’s what they did.
“I guess we wern’t ready for it, and they scored both of their goals like that.”
A fierce halftime discussion from head coach Benny Artiaga which focused on the importance of coming out alert as soon as the whistle was blown in the second half helped produce a stronger late performance from the Falcons.
Having control of the ball on Pasadena’s defensive half of the field for a predominant portion of the first fifteen minutes, Cerritos College constructed multiple shot attempts to prove that the game was far from over.
A large portion of the Falcons’ total 15 shots originated from the second portion of the match, four more than the Lancers.
Their hard work finally produced a goal in the 68th minute, with sophomore Daniel Garcia beating the goalkeeper off of a pass from fellow sophomore Gerardo Soto.
Unfortunately the Falcons were unable to finish a plethora of chances they constructed as the clock ran down.
The Pasadena College team that only pieced together one win from its previous twelve matches handed Cerritos College its second loss of the season, as the Falcons fell 2-1.
Mario Guerrero, a sophomore midfielder, had already figured out multiple reasons why the Falcons fell behind as soon as the final whistle blew.
“We came out a little confident thinking that this game was going to be really easy,” he continued.
“We made simple mistakes… all the little things like receiving the ball, completing passes, playing simple… it was the little things that caught up to us.”
Guerrero sees one area for improvement heading further into the season, adding that they “need to work on set pieces on crosses.”
Cerritos College now needs prepare for one of its toughest battles of the season, as the Falcons are set to travel to Los Angeles Harbor to face the Seahawks this Friday at 4:00 p.m..
