M. Water Polo: Tournament nets Falcons three wins on the day

File Photo: Rene Borja and the Falcons picked up three wins on Friday
File Photo: Rene Borja and the Falcons picked up three wins on Friday

Playing three games at the San Diego Mesa Tournament on Friday, the Cerritos College men's water polo team record a trio of victories. The Falcons (13-3) recorded wins over the host Olympians (18-5), and followed that with wins over the Arizona State University Club team (14-9) and San Diego State University Club team (16-13). Winners of six games in a row, the team will host their Cerritos Tournament next Friday and play a pair of games.

Cerritos vs. San Diego Mesa: The Falcons opened the day with a solid defensive effort against the Olympians, as they limited their opponent to just single goals through the first three quarters. Cerritos recorded a season-high 23 steals and scored on 18 of their 29 shots. Sophomore Dominic Hernandez (Schurr HS) was a perfect 6-for-6 on his shots to lead the team, while he also drew five man-advantage exclusions. In the game, eight different players scored, with sophomore Emiliano Cuara (La Habra HS) adding three goals, with the trio of Silvestre Chavez (Downey HS), Richard Montanez (Baldwin Park HS) and Kobe Hurtado (Cerritos HS) each contributing a pair of goals, with Hurtado assisting on three others. Sophomore goalkeeper Rene Borja (Schurr HS) played the first half and made six saves, with freshman Anthony Alonso (Warren HS) taking over in the second half and turned away three shots.

Cerritos vs. Arizona State University Club: Trailing 4-3 after the first quarter, the Falcon defense clamped down against the Sun Devils and shut them out in the second quarter. In that second quarter, Chavez, Hurtado and Hernandez each scored to take a 6-4 lead into halftime. Cerritos didn't trail the remainder of the game, with Hernandez and sophomore Sebastian Rico (Montebello HS) each scoring twice in the third quarter to account for the goal production. A 4-2 fourth quarter scoring advantage allowed the Falcons to post the win, with Hernandez adding two more of his game-high six goals leading the way. Chavez had three goals, while and Hernandez had four steals, with Montanez leading the team with six steals and added a pair of assists. Borja played the entire game and came up with several big saves on his way to 10 in the match.

Cerritos vs. San Diego State University Club: The day ended with a seven-goal first quarter to get the Falcons out in front against the Aztecs. Rico had three goals that period, with Hernandez turning in two. The Falcons withstood a couple of San Diego State runs, as a 9-2 lead turned into a 9-7 score in the second quarter before Hernandez and Chavez each scored in the final minute to make it an 11-7 game at intermission. It was a 13-10 game midway through the third quarter, but once again Hernandez and Chavez were there to regain the five-goal lead (15-10) on their way to the win. Hernandez and Montanez led the team with four goals, with Hernandez also assisting on five other goals. Pedroza had a trio of assists, with Montanez leading an 11-steal game with four. Borja capped off the day with seven more blocks, as he recorded his state-leading 13th win.