Posted: Sep 19, 2025
Locked in a 1-1 tie with host Santiago Canyon College on Friday, the Cerritos College men's soccer team scored three minutes into extra time and came away with a 2-1 win.
According to head coach Benny Artiaga, "With four minutes of extra time added, we pushed everything up and Alejandro Oropeza (Banning HS/Santa Ana College) was brought down in the box for a penalty kick. Gustavo Arias (Fairmont Prep HS) stepped up and put it away for the game winner."
The Falcons opened the scoring in the 57th minute when sophomore Allan Gonzalez (Lakewood HS) connected with sophomore Julio Portillo (Central City Value HS/East Los Angeles College) for a 1-0 lead with his fourth goal of the season.
In the 88th minute, sophomore goalkeeper Eduardo Enriquez (Linda Esperanza Marquez HS) was involved in a collision on a corner kick that forced him to leave the game. Freshman replacement Jorge Laverde (Redondo Union HS) came on in relief and surrendered the game-tying goal a minute later.
That was right before Cerritos pushed their offense in extra time and came away with the penalty kick that resulted in the game-winning goal.
"This was a tale of two halves," added Artiaga. "We played terrible the first half team got its first bad scolding."
The Falcons opened the scoring in the 57th minute when sophomore Allan Gonzalez (Lakewood HS) connected with sophomore Julio Portillo (Central City Value HS/East Los Angeles College) for a 1-0 lead with his fourth goal of the season.
In the 88th minute, sophomore goalkeeper Eduardo Enriquez (Linda Esperanza Marquez HS) was involved in a collision on a corner kick that forced him to leave the game. Freshman replacement Jorge Laverde (Redondo Union HS) came on in relief and surrendered the game-tying goal a minute later.
That was right before Cerritos pushed their offense in extra time and came away with the penalty kick that resulted in the game-winning goal.
"This was a tale of two halves," added Artiaga. "We played terrible the first half team got its first bad scolding."
