Knowing they needed a little help in their final regular season South Coast Conference game on Tuesday, the Cerritos College men's soccer team went out and handed visiting Pasadena City College a 4-2 defeat. The Falcons (12-5-2, 5-2-2) will be the #5-seed for the SCC Tournament and will play at 2:00 p.m. at El Camino College on Friday.

Against the Lancers (10-6-4, 3-5-1), who will be the #6-seeded team for the tournament Cerritos found themselves trailing a minute after they missed a chance to take an early lead. In the 10th minute, sophomore Gustavo Arias (Fairmont Prep HS) missed on a penalty kick, with Pasadena City coming right back down the field and scoring a little over a minute later.

That didn't seem to face Arias, who later in the half scored twice in a three-minute span to put the Falcons in front, 2-1. He fired a shot past PCC goalkeeper Leo Mendoza in the 35th minute and then sent the ball into the back of the net on a low, line drive shot in the 38th minute. Sophomore Pedro Reyes (Connections Academy HS/Cal State Fullerton) was the one who connected the passes to Arias on both of the goals.

In extra time of the first half, Pasadena City was able to tie the game, with the Falcons looking to regroup at intermission.

They did just that and scored twice against new goalkeeper Matthew Gilmore, with sophomore William Rodriguez (San Leandro HS/Cuyamaca College) getting credit for the eventual game-winning goal. In the 81st minute, he grabbed a rebound off a Reyes shot and chipped the ball into the net, while freshman Nathan Pineda (Santa Fe HS) closing out the scoring in the 86th minute with his seventh goal of the season. He found himself in front of Gilmore for an open shot after receiving a pass from Arias.

The goalkeeping tandem of Eduardo Enriquez (Linda Esperanza Marquez HS) and Anthony Gomez (Los Alamitos HS) each playing a half and combined for three saves, with Gomez picking up the win.

Photos by Daryl Peterson