Cerritos College Men’s Soccer Team beat Taft College, 1-0, in a closely contested match to advance to the State Finals on Dec. 5.

The Falcons started the first half with 10 shots and keeping the Cougars to just 5 shots.

Angelo Cutrona, head coach for the Cougars, said that this game was tough for his team to handle emotionally but overall it was good experience for the team.

Jose Ochoa, who scored the only game in the game, said that some of his teammates were nervous in at the start of the game.

“The beginning of the game we started nervous, whole bunch of guys coming in with the jitters first time playing in the playoffs,” Ochoa said.

Ochoa said that even though they were nervous, the team eventually got over that hump and gained its confidence.

He went on to describe the game winning play and its importance to him.

“It was one of the most beautiful moments in my life these past couple game I’ve been close to shots on goal and I knew I had to pull one away to take this team to the finals,” Ochoa said.

Before his goal, the last time Ochoa scored was when the Falcons played against Pasadena College in Nov. 7.

“We all left it on the field, we played with heart.”

Falcons Head Coach Benny Artiaga said that his team played a great game and didn’t let the Cougars take clears shots.

“We stuck to the gameplan, we were a disciplined group, we did what we had to do and that’s exactly how we been training.”

Artiaga said the he was excited for his team playing the finals because the players worked hard.

The team has a lot of grit and grind, and is ready to play whoever comes at it, Artiaga mentioned.

The Falcons will play Mt. SAC in the State Championship game on Dec.7 at 10 p.m.

Check out a photo slideshow of the game in the link below:

http://talonmarks2.com/slideshows/fa14/Taft_vs_Cerritos_Semifinals/