Not only were the Cerritos College men's soccer team taking on rival and the state's #1-ranked Mt. San Antonio College on Tuesday, they were doing it without their leading scorer. The Falcons (8-2-2, 2-0-1), ranked #9 in the state, trailed, 1-0 for most of the game until sophomore Jose Lopez (MY Academy HS) took the game into his hands and scored twice to lead Cerritos to a 2-1 South Coast Conference win. The victory extended the team's unbeaten streak to nine games (7-0-2), they handed the Mounties (9-1-3, 2-1-0) their first loss of the season.

Cerritos will continue with their South Coast Conference schedule when they host Compton College at 4:00 p.m. on Friday.

"Playing without one of leaders (Donovan Perez) was a big mental test for us," said head coach Benny Artiaga. "Our guys stepped up. We had a huge performance from Gustavo Arias (Fairmont Prep HS) and our entire back line. Jose (Lopez) put the team on his shoulders like we expect him to do. Our coaches did an amazing job of executing our game plan and we keep going. I'm so proud of our guys."

With time running out and the Mounties leading, 1-0, the Falcons started to shift the momentum of the game in their favor. Mt. SAC has controlled possession of the ball for the majority of the first half, while Cerritos started to turn up the pressure on defense, which helped generate some offensive chances.

It looked as though Cerritos had tied the game in the 74th minute, but were called for offside, which negated a goal by Pedro Reyes (Connections Academy HS). But on their next possession, the Falcons were able to crack the Mounties defense and goalkeeper Alex Ledesma when Lopez scored his first of two goals of the game in the 75th minute. On the play, Reyes rolled a pass through the 18-yard box where Lopez was there to chip the ball into the back of the net. The bench and all of the Falcon players erupted in excitement, which seemed to loosen up the team and give them extra energy at the same time.

That offensive pressure continued and paid off in the 84th minute, as Cesar Solarzano Garcia (California Pacific Charter HS) sent a direct kick from 25 yards out. The loose ball was handled by Lopez, who fired a shot past Ledesma for his seventh goal of the season and second multi-goal of the year.

Continuing to hold the Mounties at bay, the Cerritos defense clamped down and did not allow a shot on goal for the remainder of the game. Goalkeeper Griffin Welch (Long Beach Poly HS) made three saves on the day to earn the win.

Photos by Daryl Peterson