Freshman Jamie Peters was elbowed in the face by Rio Hondo’s Janeth Acuna, which led to a penalty late in the match.
Peters said, “The sideline referee was silent the whole game until [Rio Hondo] fouled me.”
Freshman Carolina Jaramillo was subbed in to take the penalty. Rio Hondo’s goal keeper Christina Holguin tried to get in Jaramillo’s head, but failed as she netted it to the top left corner of the goal.
The women’s soccer completed the third undefeated season in the programs school history (2008, 2013, 2015).
The Falcons finished the season with a record of 23-0-3 defeating Rio Hondo College 3-0 at De Anza College, on Sunday, Dec. 6. Cerritos now has an amazing 20 game winning streak in its postseason run in the last four seasons.
Jaramillo on the moment taking the penalty said, “I was confident in myself to take the penalty as the goalie [Holguin] started saying things and I made it.”
The Falcons started the match as it would have wanted to start as they scored a goal in the 5th minute.
Jaramillo used her speed and dribbling skills to get pass a couple of Rio Hondo’s defense to get herself into the box and pass it to freshman teammate Natalie deLeon who shot it in the bottom left corner to hit the back of the net.
Peters made a crucial pass to find a wide open Jaramillo inside the box who had a one-on-one opportunity and executed it with ease hitting the bottom right of the net in the 32nd minute.
“I think starting the game I was a bit nervous, but as time passed by I started to get confidence in myself and the team as the match was going and I think making the goals in the beginning of the game helped a lot,” Jaramillo said.
Jaramillo was named the Most Valuable Player in the CCCAA tournament being responsible for three goals and two assists in the two playoff wins. She lead a team high with 27 goals in the season.
Sophomore defender Milia Tilton was a key factor all season for Cerritos defense.
Tilton on the season said, “I think as a team we definitely became a family in the end because we had problems like we couldn’t play as a team in the beginning and we overcame everything and we came together because everyone wanted to get the four-peat.”
Tilton cleared all the balls outside or inside the box, which helped freshman goalie Ruby Nichols.
Assistant coach Henry Perez said, “At the beginning of the season, against Fresno city, she was nervous, but she was dialed in the playoffs.”
Nichols finished the game with seven saves and a clean sheet in the match.
Head coach Ruben Gonzalez said, “I think believe or not we overachieved. It sounds funny because we didn’t lose a game and I think as the season progressed we got better. I owe that to my coaching staff and the players they just worked their ass off all season and the goal is always to win a championship and if we don’t win one it’s a disappointing season, but we accomplished our goal.”
Gonzalez praised his defense saying that defense wins championships.
“We would look to add some more talent and the coaches will start talking what we need to bring in to prepare ourselves for another run next year and hopefully make it five in a row,” he said.
