Playing with the same resilience that propelled them through some tough times during the season, the Cerritos College men's soccer team is one win away from their fifth 3C2A State Championship in school history. The Falcons (16-6-3), who finished in third place in the South Coast Conference South Division and then came in fifth place at the conference tournament, defeated Cañada College, 3-2 on Friday at Saddleback College in their state semifinal game. Seeded #8 for the Southern California Regional Playoffs, the Falcons will now face Hartnell College on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. in the final game of the year, with a state championship on the line. Hartnell defeated Los Angeles City College, 2-0 in the other semifinal game.

Although they have lost their last two games against Hartnell (3-0 in 2024 & 2-0 in 2023), the Falcons have gone 4-0-3 in the seven games prior dating back to 2004.

Under the guidance of 21-year head coach Benny Artiaga, the Falcons are 4-0 in state championship games, with their most recent coming in 2018 and their others in 2006, 2008 and 2014.

Against the Colts (12-3-8), Cerritos found themselves trailing, 1-0 in the 20th minute when Francesco Lipparoni jumped over the defenders for a header off a corner kick. Set pieces have been troublesome for the Falcons this season.

Just as it has in the past, an opposing goal has seemed to only agitate the Falcons enough to put their offense in overdrive. In the 22nd minute, sophomore Alejandro Oropeza (Banning HS/Santa Ana College) got off a great shot against Cañada goalkeeper Luis Evangelista, who made the initial save. With the rebound landing in front of sophomore Gustavo Arias (Fairmont Prep HS), he was also able to get off a shot, only to be denied by Evangelista. Just five minutes later, Arias fired off a hard shot on goal that Evangelista was able to handle, but giving Cerritos enough confidence to know that those shots will eventually find the back of the net.

That came true in the 31st minute, as Arias was able to feed a beautiful pass to sophomore Julio Portillo (Central City Value HS/East Los Angeles College), who went in alone against Evangelista and scored his eighth goal of the season to the the game.

Prior to the end of the first half, Cerritos would have three more high percentage chances to take the lead, but were either stoned by Evangelista, or could not get off a shot in front of the goal. Included in that flurry of offensive chances was a shot by sophomore Allan Gonzalez (Lakewood HS) that hit the inside of the post but came out in the 34th minute and a shot by Arias that just cleared the top of the crossbar in the 45th minute.

That offensive pressure that built the Falcons confidence in the first half allowed them to take a 2-1 lead less than two minutes into the second half. Arias fired off a one-timer that found the upper corner of the net on a sweet pass from sophomore Christopher Ramirez (Bishop Mora Salesian HS) for his 15th goal of the season.

A lapse in defensive judgement allowed Cañada to tie the game in the 52nd minute. But that didn't deter the Falcons, who scored what would be the game-winning goal in the 62nd minute when Arias blasted a shot that went through the hands of Evangelista.

With his two goals and an assist, Arias is now tied for third in the state in goals (16), fourth in assists (14) and second in points (46).

Photos by Daryl Peterson and Oliver Vasillis