Top-ranked Cerritos College shows why it’s No. 1 with win over Mt. SAC
Cerritos College midfielder Antonio Negrete (16) fights off a Mt. SAC defender in their league match at Cerritos College on Tuesday. The match was suspended due to lightening in the area. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)
NORWALK – A huge victory for the Cerritos College Men’s Soccer team strengthened its hold on the top spot in the California Community College Athletic Association, with a 2-1 victory over defending state champion Mt. San Antonio College Wednesday afternoon (Oct. 12) at Cerritos in a South Coast Conference crossover game.
A stingy defense by the Falcons held Mt. SAC to only two shots on goal, one of which scored.
In a game that took two days to complete, due to a halt in play on Tuesday afternoon when lightning delayed the game in the first half. The Falcons kept the Mounties from scoring in the second half on Wednesday, when the game was restarted.
With the win, the nation’s No. 2-ranked (United Soccer Coaches, DIII) Falcons remained unbeaten with an overall 11-0-2 record and 3-0 in the SCC South Conference.
Mt. SAC falls to 10-3 and 2-1 in the SCC North.
“I told them to treat it like a 90-minute game and to play as if we were starting from the beginning,” said Cerritos assistant coach Jose Esparza, who was filling in for head coach Benny Artiaga after receiving a one-game suspension from a previous game.
Esparza was referring to the partial game on day two, as they finished the final seven minutes of the first half and the whole second half that were not completed due to the delay.
“We wanted to re-establish the tempo and set the tone for the game and stick to our Cerritos roots on how we play. The players had an approach of staying on the positive side of everything and work hard from beginning to end. (Wednesday) we made sure our boys understood how important it was to finish strong and manage to keep the ball as much as we can.”
With the score tied, 1-1, the go-ahead score came late in the first half in the 30th minute by freshman forward Julian Vazquez, on a play that started with sophomore midfielder Gabriel Oropeza near midfield.
Oropeza passed the ball up to sophomore forward Pablo Caparelli, who crossed it to Vazquez, who knocked the ball into the left side of the net. Just eight minutes later, the game came to a stop.
“Playing Mt. SAC back-to-back was not something normal that happens,” Esparza said. “We took full control for 38 minutes, even though our center back made a mistake, we were able to make a great comeback.”
Cerritos College midfielder Antonio Negrete (16) leaps for the ball as they play Mt. San Antonio College in their league match at Cerritos College on Tuesday. The match was suspended due to lightening in the area. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)
Esparza explained how a over aggressive slide tackle in the 18-yard box led to a Mt. SAC penalty kick in the eighth minute.
Sophomore midfielder Alex Mendez took his time for the penalty kick and scored to the right side of Cerritos freshman goal keeper Juan Pablo Camacho for the 1-0 lead.
Six minutes later in the 14th minute, the Falcons evened the score, 1-1, after a mistake by Mt. SAC goalie Daniel Ramirez didn’t get a complete foot on a clearing attempt and sophomore forward Michael Rodriguez sent a high kick over Ramirez, who was out of the goal, for the score.
“You can’t explain that high energy game,” Mt. SAC coach Juan Sanchez said. “That was the start when both teams came out on fire and tried to get on top of the score. We got one early but they got us on two very good scores.”
As expected, the game was rough with seven total yellow cards handed out, four of which went to Mt. SAC and three to the Falcons.
One of those went to Cerritos captain, Tony Negrete, who knew how important the win was over the 6-time state champion Mounties.
“I thought this was a very big victory,” Negrete said. “Beating Mt. SAC just boosted it even more.
“We are all going to keep an even pace and are very well prepared. It’s very exciting to be part of it and create our own legacy.”
Negrete, who is a midfielder, was moved back to the center back position late in the game and it proved to be a difference for the Falcons.
“(Tony) plays a big role and is our machine in the middle,” Esparza added. “He covers so much ground in the middle.
Due to both starting center backs being injured, Negrete became a big part of the final line of defense for Cerritos, along with Ernie Vergara.
“It was very intense and (Mt. SAC) kept coming at us,” Negrete added. “We did an amazing job to finish the game and secure the win.”
