For the second time in the program's history, the Cerritos College men's soccer team has been named the United Soccer Coaches National Champions. The Falcons, who won their fifth 3C2A State Championship this past Sunday after a 2-1 overtime win over Hartnell College, were also named the national champions in 2018. In each of their other state championships (2006, 2008, 2014), Cerritos finished the season ranked #2 among Division III (non-scholarship) community colleges.

"This team and staff has come together to form an unbreakable bond," stated head coach Benny Artiaga, who has led the Falcons to all of their state titles. "We struggled during season to find an identity. When we played for the division title and loss to Long Beach City College, 4-0, I told our coaches we're gonna watch the ranch burn to the ground and our team is gonna watch them celebrate every goal. That seemed to be our turning point in our season, where we decided to buckle down and stop beating ourselves with childish decisions. It lead to our worse conference standing in all the years we've been (coaching) here. So we definitely had some soul searching. Luckily, it's not our first rodeo and we have won state titles in the past with as many losses."

Over the course of the season, Cerritos finished with a 17-6-3 record, which included coming in third place in the South Coast Conference South Division and a fifth place finish in the conference tournament. But after the aforementioned 4-0 loss to the Vikings, Artiaga and his Falcons went 7-1-2 the remainder of the season, which included a 3-3 tie with LBCC in the 3rd Round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs. The game went to overtime and then to penalty kicks, where the Falcons won, 4-2 to advance in the postseason. In the previous two seasons, Long Beach City defeated Cerritos in the playoffs to end their season.

"We got hot and peaked at the right time," added Artiaga. "We avenged Long Beach and caught some major breaks along the way that allowed us to have home field advantage in the playoffs, where we were nearly unbeatable (8-1-2). When Coach Alex (Diaz) told me he dreamed we were gonna win it all, I told him it was his beloved parents looking down on him and us leading the way."

The first time Cerritos was voted the national championships, they posted a 21-1-2 record that included 12 shutouts and some dominant wins. They outscored their opponents, 12-3 in the postseason, which included an overtime win over Oxnard College in the 2nd Round and culminated with a 2-1 win over Golden West College in the state championship game.

"My coaches were so important in this whole process," stated Artiaga. "Alex Diaz, Jeffrey Payeras, Tony Leone, George Artiaga and Chris Lekavich (all pictured, left) never gave up on us and trusted we could turn it around."

But in 2025, the team had to find a way to regroup and looked to their sophomores for guidance and leadership.

"We had a great group of sophomores like Gustavo Arias, Allan Gonzalez, Joshua Chavez, Gato (goalkeeper Eduardo Enriquez), Brandon Sanchez, Pedro Reyes, Matthew Pulido, Christopher Ramirez, Alejandro Oropeza and Edgar Ausencio, who all stared to play with urgency and use their experience. They all knew it could be their last games and the rest is history," continued Artiaga. "This is so surreal. I feel like I don't want to wake up and have to replay the games or be told it was in our head. Don't wake me up."