The Men’s soccer team lost in an upset loss against the rival Mt. Sac in overtime on Nov. 26 with the final score of 1-0 as Mt. San Antonio goes to the final four.
Cerritos played Mt. San Antonio at El Camino for the South Coast Conference Championship and won 3-2.
However, both teams came out slower than the last game and felt like a feeling-out process.
Mt. San Antonio was in the right position, at the right time and made it tough for Cerritos to get any shots on goal, which they had four in the half.
Optimism was shown near the end of the first half where they put way more pressure on the goalie as Cerritos looks to strike first.
Goalie Jacob Cardenas for Mt. San Antonio had two saves in the first half and made some tough saves to stop Cerritos from gaining any momentum.
The score stayed 0-0 after 30 minutes of play, the second half had more shots with the Falcons shooting six to Mt. Sac’s four.
Cerritos and Mt. Sac missed key shots during those two halves, which could’ve hugely altered the game.
From the two halves of play, Mt. Sac was beating them to the ball on both sides and Cerritos made small mistakes on the passing end.
Overtime came and Alex Mendez of Mt. Sac scored with an assist by Edward Castro as Mt. San Antonio leads 1-0 in the first half of overtime.
Captain for the Falcons and Striker Pablo Caparelli (No. 9) said, “I just feel like in today’s game, we didn’t get the results we wanted but I feel like we put in all the effort.”
Caparelli said that his performance this season was good, “I feel like I’ve been helping the team out, holding the ball, laying off, trying to get fouls and pushing the team up.”
“Overall, my team, they put their true heart into the game […] the coaching staff was amazing, all the players were amazing,” the Sophomore said as he reflects on the team, “I feel like every player here is going to have a bright future because they put the effort in.”
Benny Artiaga, the men’s soccer coach for Cerritos, said that not getting a ring left a bad taste in their mouth, “But, we’re Cerritos, we’ll keep grinding and keep getting better.”
“Everything, everything’s positive,” Artiaga said about the positives of the season, “I can’t put any negatives on this. Our team was amazing.”
Julian Vazquez (No. 7), who’s the Falcons Forward, said that he did a good job in his Freshman season, “It was a lot to take in, I was playing a big role so little by little I was progressing.”
“It’s sad to see it come to an end,” Vazquez adds, “I felt like I was just getting there.”
“I feel like we have a lot of potential. We have a lot of great players staying back […] I’m very confident we’ll be back here.”
The Falcons end the season with a 21-1-2 record, going undefeated (10-0) in conference games (not including playoffs)
Men’s soccer looks to keep the momentum moving for their next season as they look to win not only the regionals but the state championship.
