In their last four wins, the Cerritos College men's soccer team has scored 18 goals, the the latest being a 5-1 South Coast Conference victory over visiting Rio Hondo College on Wednesday. The Falcons (9-4-0, 2-1-0), who are in a tie for first place in the South Division, will travel to East Los Angeles College on Friday for a 1:30 p.m. game.

Needing less than three minutes to open the scoring, Cerritos jumped out to a 2-0 lead before the Roadrunners responded with a goal of their own. In the third minute, sophomore Christian Ramirez (Bishop Mora Salesian HS) sent a quick pass in the 18-yard box to the foot of sophomore Julio Portillo (Central City Value HS/East Los Angeles College), who chipped the ball past goalkeeper Antonio Ortiz-Reyes. A little over 10 minutes later, sophomore Allan Gonzalez (Lakewood HS) sent a perfect direct kick from 30 yards out over the outstretched arms of Ortiz-Reyes and just under the crossbar for his second goal of the season.

Rio Hondo was able to slip a shot past freshman goalkeeper Anthony Gomez (Los Alamitos HS) after he made the first save on a shot by Jensen Martinez. The ball came out of the hands of Gomez, with Estevan Ruvalcaba right there to top the ball into the net in the 40th minute.

But before the end of the first half, the Falcons would regain their two-goal lead, as freshman Henderson Figueroa (Narbonne HS) rolled a shot through the defense and past a screened Ortiz-Reyes. Sophomore Gustavo Arias (Fairmont Prep HS) got the play started on a nice pass that Figueroa was able to finish with three minutes remaining in the first half.

The Falcons continued their offensive pressure, as they added a pair of goals in the second half, with Portillo scoring on a beautiful header on a perfect crossing pass from Gonzalez. That came in the 61st minute, with the final goal coming 20 minutes later when Ramirez picked up his second goal of the day as he was in the right place to score on a rebound off an initial shot from freshman William Rodriguez (San Leandro HS/Cuyamaca College).

Cerritos outshot Rio Hondo, 17-4, and held them to just two shot attempts each half. Gomez played the first half, with sophomore Eduardo Enriquez (Linda Esperanza Marquez HS) playing the second half, with both posting one save.

Photos by Daryl Peterson