Hosting a one-day tournament, the Cerritos College men's water polo team split their two games. The Falcons (14-4) opened with an 18-4 win over Fullerton College and followed with a 15-11 setback against Orange Coast College. The team will now compete in the Riverside City Tournament next weekend, where they will play four more games.

Cerritos vs. Fullerton: The Falcons jumped out to a quick 7-1 lead after the first quarter and were never challenged. Taking the opportunity to get more players into the game against the Hornets (0-10-1), received goals from eight different players. Even sophomore goalie Rene Borja (Schurr HS), who had started every game this season, entered as a field player and scored a goal and added an assist. After four different players scored to get the offense going, freshman Kobe Hurtado (Cerritos HS) provided the last three goals in the first quarter. Taking an 11-2 lead into the second half, sophomore Emiliano Cuara (La Habra HS) came out and scored five of the team's next six goals, including the first three of the third quarter. His five goals were a career-high. Sophomore Joel Rivas (Montebello HS) led the defense with a career-high seven steals, to go along with a pair of goals, while sophomore Ruben Montoya (La Serna HS) turned in five steals, along with two goals and two assists. Freshman Anthony Alonso (Warren HS) played his first full game in goal and posted six saves.

Cerritos vs. Orange Coast: Taking on the Pirates (6-5), Cerritos had lapses where they couldn't score, which allowed Orange Coast to score goals in bunches. It was a tight 4-4 game after one quarter until Orange Coast opened the second period with goals on consecutive possessions. Cerritos did get one of those goals back, thanks to sophomore Abimael Anorve (Mira Costa HS). However, a couple of errant shots and a pair of turnovers led to the Pirates scoring the final three goals of the quarter and took a 9-5 lead into halftime. Second half adjustments by Cerritos allowed their defense to clamp down and shut out Orange Coast in the third quarter, while freshman Allan Jimenez (Schurr HS), sophomore Silvestre Chavez (Downey HS) and Anorve all scored to close to within 9-8 with eight minutes remaining. Just as they did to end the first half, Orange Coast came out quickly in the fourth quarter and scored four straight goals before the Falcons could answer. By then, it was a 13-10 deficit with three minutes remaining. Jimenez led the team with four goals, while Hernandez, Chavez and Anorve each added a pair of goals. Borja returned in goal and posted 11 saves.

Photos by Daryl Peterson