Cerritos turns in emotional victory

With a pre-game ceremony to honor the late Jasmine Cornejo, who was a member of the last two National Championship teams, the Cerritos College women's soccer team turned in an emotional win. Cornejo, who passed away on August 4, played exactly the way the Falcons did in their 7-0 non-conference win over Los Angeles Pierce College on Tuesday. They played with speed and intensity, as they jumped on the board in the fourth minute of the game for an early lead. It was a 2-0 lead at halftime until five second half goals put the game clearly out of reach.

"It was an emotional day for everyone that was close to her," said head coach Ruben Gonzalez. "I think we tried too hard in the first half, but once we settled down, they started to play much better."

The opening goal of the game came at 4:01, as freshman Jill Messersmith (Newport Harbor HS) saw her corner kick bend just enough to skip past the Brahmas goalkeeper. The goal seemed to loosen the team up a little, as they continued to pepper LA Pierce goalie Jenna Koziol with shots around the net. Messersmith could have had two more first half goals, but she hit the goal post in the 14th minute and the crossbar in the 35th minute. Freshman Esmeralda Verdugo (Ensenada BC, Mexico HS) lifted a shot over Koziol 21:43 into the game for a 2-0 lead. Sophomore Ashley Anaya-Webb (Yorba Linda HS/Cal State Long Beach) was credited with her first of two assists on the day.

By the time Cornejo's best friend - sophomore Carolina Ornelas (Artesia HS) got in the game - she was ready to honor her best friend. Gonzalez had been holding Ornelas out of the starting lineup for the first 15-20 minutes of the game to allow her to get a feel for the tempo of the game. It showed by the time the second half started, with Ornelas scoring twice and adding an assist.

Ornelas scored the team's sixth and seventh goals of the game and assisted on the fifth goal, with all three scores coming less than three minutes apart.

"She's always on my mind and it felt good to score for her today," said Ornelas. "Jasmine would always pass me the ball when we played, so every time I got the ball, I thought of it as a pass from her. I also tape my wrist now because Jasmine always did, so I now do it in her honor and I look at it every time I score. Everything I do is for her."

Just like in the first half, the Falcons struck quickly, with Anaya-Webb needing just 2:28 of the second half to find the net, as her shot went under the legs of replacement goalkeeper Taylor Bailey, who made seven second half saves. Verdugo and Anaya-Webb teamed up for the second time on the day at 54:20 for a 4-0 lead, while Anaya-Webb finished off her four-point day when her rush along the right side resulted in a hard, low shot that found the net. The duo of sophomore Adrianna Salazar (Downey HS) and freshman Savannah Pilovsky (Fullerton HS) combined for the shutout.

Cerritos raised $610 for the Cornejo family from gate receipts on the day.