Making their annual trip north to the Hartnell Tournament, the Cerritos College men's soccer team split their two games over the weekend. The Falcons (2-1-0) opened with a 2-1 loss at the hands of Fresno City College before responding on Saturday with a 3-1 win over Irvine Valley College. The team will return to action on Friday with a 4:00 p.m. game at Golden West College.

Trailing late in the game against the Rams in their first game, freshman Henderson Figueroa (Narbonne HS) gave the Falcons a bit of hope with his goal in the 75th minute. However, they were unable to find the back of the net for a tying goal and absorbed the tough loss against an always-solid Fresno Citry team.

Looking to get in front against the Lasers (0-3-0), Cerritos opened a 2-0 lead by halftime. Playing a role in the first two goals, sophomore Gustavo Arias (Fairmont Prep HS) assisted on the first goal in the 20th minute by Nathan Pineda (Santa Fe HS), while he added what turned out to be the winning game right before halftime with a tally of his own. Right after Irvine Valley cut the lead in half, Pineda scored his second goal of the game a minute later, with freshman Giancarlo Morales (Palos Verdes Peninsula HS) picking up his first assist of the season.

The goalkeeping duties were handled by freshman Anthony Gomez (Los Alamitos HS) through the first 70 minutes, while freshman Jorge Laverde (Redondo Union HS) protected the net the final 20 minutes. The duo combined for five saves.