Taking on rival Mt. San Antonio College in the inaugural South Coast Conference Tournament championship game, the Cerritos College men's soccer team suffered a 2-1 defeat. The Falcons (15-2-4), who are the defending CCCAA State Champion and National Champion, will find out on Tuesday where they are seeded for the Southern California Regional Playoffs. The first round of the playoffs will start on November 23.

"It was an amazing game," said Falcon head coach Benny Artiaga. "We gave the fans and viewers a chance to see the best two teams in the state go toe-to-toe and neither backed down. This team gives us the confidence to know we are ready to defend our title."

In the game, the Mounties (19-0-3) got on the board in the fourth minute of the game, which forced the Falcons to play more aggressively. They needed to make another adjustment after Mt. SAC doubled their lead in the 30th minute. But before the end of the first half, Cerritos made a little noise, as they cut their deficit in half in the 41st minute.

Freshman Bryan Perez (Simon Rodia HS) set a pass through the Mt. SAC defense to sophomore Bryan Ortega (Paramount HS), who was able to control the ball and get off a shot that resulted in his team-leading 15th goal of the season.

The Falcons peppered the Mounties goal with 12 shots, and saw five of them on goal. Always a physical game between the two teams, the match resulted in seven yellow cards, with Cerritos receiving five of them.

Photo courtesy of Maria Castro