TEAM ENDS REGULAR SEASON WITH TIE

After already securing second place in the South Coast Conference, the Cerritos College men's soccer team concluded their regular season with a 1-1 tie at East Los Angeles College. The Falcons, who remained ranked #3 in the country this week, are now 17-2-2 on the year and finished 11-2-1 in SCC play. They will now wait to see where they will be ranked for the Southern California Regional Playoffs, with the first round scheduled for Saturday, November 19. The top-two seeded teams in the 14-team field receive a first round bye. The seeding meeting will be held at Fullerton College at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 15 to determine the selection and seeding of the teams. The Falcons are currently #2 in the Southern California power rankings, which helps determine the selection of the seeds.

With the Falcons clinging to a 1-0 lead, on an early goal by freshman Angel Ayala (Cabrillo HS) on an assist from sophomore Juan Ochoa (Paramount HS), East LA was able to tie the game in extra time. With the game into it's sixth minute of extra time, the Huskies were able to score a goal past sophomore Danny Lizama (Duarte HS) to tie the game before the final whistle.

The extended play did not sit well with Cerritos head coach Benny Artiaga. "This was a game where I'm just glad we got out of there with no injuries. I don't feel as though the referee did anything to protect us. He gave six minutes of extra time in a game where there should have been a maximum of one minute. I try never to blame the refs, but when he doesn't protect my players, it becomes upsetting."