The Cerritos College Men's Soccer Redemption Tour 2021 continued on Tuesday in the 2nd Round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs. The Falcons (16-4-1), who are seeded #2 for the playoffs, were hosting #7-seeded Oxnard College (14-3-5). Over the course of the season, Cerritos lost four games and have had a chance to face three of those teams since then and have responded with a win, with the most recent being a 1-0 decision over the Condors.
"I'm so proud of our boys," said head coach Benny Artiaga. "You had two tired teams, and with us playing 90 minutes, plus overtime in our last game, didn't allow for proper recovery. That's where our depth and discipline kicks in."
The win advances the Falcons to the state's Elite Eight, where one win will advance them to the CCCAA State Championships, which will take place on December 3rd and 5th at Mt. San Antonio College. They will find out who their opponent is by the end of the evening and Cerritos will host them at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Earlier in the year, both Long Beach City College and El Camino College handed the Falcons a loss, while the next time they met, Cerritos came away with the win. Back on September 17, Oxnard recorded a 2-1 decision on their home field, with Cerritos able to check a third team off that list with their win today. The only other team remaining is Fresno City College, the defending state champions.
With neither team able to get that finish they were looking for on an offensive push, that break finally came in the 83rd minute. Sophomore Martin Velasquez (Paramount HS) stepped up to take a free kick from about 35 yards out. Looking to get the ball to the far post, he was able to direct the ball over all of the defenders, where it landed in front of the goal, took a sideways bounce and rolled past Oxnard goalkeeper Kevin Aranda, who came on in the final minute of the first half in place of injured Efrain Perez. It appeared as though the state's leading goal scorer, Armando Ibarra, Jr. (Downey HS) had gotten a piece of the ball, but it was ruled to have gone in off the foot of Velasquez, his second of the season.
Prior to the goal, both teams had great chances to get on the scoreboard, but were turned away by a couple of nice keeper saves.
In the 61st minute, Luis Mottu had a direct shot on goal from 10 yards out, but Falcons goalkeeper Alex Ledesma (Bellflower HS) was able to make a terrific sliding save. Just seven minutes later, a nice give-and-go with freshmen Pablo Caparelli (Real Salt Lake Academy, UT HS) and Arnold Castillo (Bell Gardens HS) was turned away when Aranda made his own sliding save against Caparelli.
"Our goalie was big-time today with a couple of key saves," added Artiaga referring to Ledesma. "We're one win away from going to the Big Dance. It's always our goal to get to the state championships and now we're one win away."
The Falcons put pressure on the Oxnard defense for the majority of the game and looked to wear them down with their passing and up-tempo approach. In the first half, Perez was able to turn away all five Cerritos shots on goal, including a pair of shots from freshman Alex Rodriguez (Gertz Ressler HS).
Photos by Daryl Peterson
January 10, 2022
M. Soccer: Trio of players make their four-year decisions
November 27, 2021
M. Soccer: Season comes to an end with playoff loss
November 23, 2021
M. Soccer: #2-seeded Falcons one win away from state tournament
November 20, 2021
M. Soccer: Team extended to overtime before defeating Norco
November 18, 2021
M. Soccer: Team has 10 players earn conference awards
November 16, 2021
M. Soccer: Falcons seeded #2 for SoCal Regional Playoffs
November 12, 2021
M. Soccer: Falcons playing for conference tournament title
November 12, 2021
M. Soccer: Falcons settle score with Long Beach City
November 9, 2021
M. Soccer: Win sends Falcons to conference tournament finals
October 29, 2021
M. Soccer: Unbeaten streak ended by Long Beach City
October 26, 2021
M. Soccer: Road win at Mt. San Antonio biggest of the season
October 22, 2021
M. Soccer: Defense continues to come up big in shutout win
October 19, 2021
M. Soccer: Falcons post 2-0 win over #11-ranked Rio Hondo
October 15, 2021
M. Soccer: Cerritos wins fifth straight after 2-0 victory
October 12, 2021
M. Soccer Falcons record sixth shutout of the season
October 8, 2021
M. Soccer: Scoring machine keeps churning for Falcons
October 5, 2021
M. Soccer: Armando Ibarra nets pair of goals in Falcons win
September 28, 2021
M. Soccer: Falcons record 3-0 shutout win in final non-conference game
September 24, 2021
M. Soccer: Cerritos plays #2 Taft to a scoreless tie
September 14, 2021
M. Soccer: Team stretched to their limits in late win
September 8, 2021
M. Soccer: Early deficit doesn't slow down Falcons
September 7, 2021
M. Soccer: Hartnell Tournament nets Falcons split in two games
August 31, 2021
M. Soccer: Unrelenting offensive attack leads to 4-0 win
August 27, 2021
M. Soccer: Falcons start the season with 2-0 win