Men’s Soccer Loses First Game of the Season Against Cerritos

TORRANCE, Calif. - In a highly anticipated matchup between the state's No.2 and No.4 teams, visiting Cerritos emerged victorious with a 4-1 victory over the home team El Camino College on Friday evening.  

The Falcons (11-0-1, 2-0-0) came out firing to start the game and took a 3-0 lead into the half.  The Warriors (8-1-1, 1-1) got their composure back in the second half and both sides traded a goal a piece in the second half to finish the game at 4-1.  

The Warriors outshot the Falcons (14 to 9) however the Falcons were more clinical with their chances.  The Falcons had six shots on goal compared to the Warriors four shots on goal. Luis Garibay made two saves for the game.  The Cerritos keeper Luis Encisco made three saves.

Bryan Ortega got the hat trick for the Falcons.  Ortega and Hector Aguirre-Ruiz connected for two goals in the first half.  Aguirre-Ruiz played balls from the left side to Ortega in the middle and he was able to put two goals past the El Camino keeper.  The Warriors defense fouled a Cerritos player inside the box to give the Falcons a penalty kick in the 31st minute. Kevin Diaz was able to slot it under Luis Garibay's dive to the left side to make it 3-0 for the Falcons after 31 minutes played.  

After half time, both sides traded decent looks on goal.  However in the 53rd minute, Bryan Ortega played a ball over the El Camino backline to Kevin Diaz.  The El Camino defense mostly gave up on the play in hopes of an offside call but Diaz was able to calmly slot it past Garibay to make it a 4-0 game.

The Warriors were able to get one goal back a few minutes later.  Larry Lopez had a shot saved by the Cerritos keeper, but Lopez was able to bury the rebound underneath the keeper to make it a 4-1 game and give the Warriors some momentum.

Melvyn Perez-Cortez had a great look at goal on a free kick.  His shot rang off the right post in the 67th minute.  

The second half of the game was quite chaotic.  After each team was issued a yellow card in the first half.  There were seven cards issued in the second half. Four Cerritos players were given a yellow card. The head coach of the Falcons was given a yellow card and in the same interaction, an assistant coach for the Falcons was issued a straight red card.

The Warriors will look to shake off their first loss of the season with a night game on Tuesday, October 15th at Long Beach City College.  Kick-off is set for 7:30 PM for the game at Veterans Memorial Stadium.