As the sun was setting on the day, the Cerritos College men's soccer team made sure the sun didn't set on their season. Hosting Long Beach City College in the 3rd Round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs, the Falcons were able to outscore the Vikings, 4-2 in penalty kicks to advance to the next round. The two teams played to a 3-3 tie after regulation and two 15-minute overtime periods, which required the penalty kicks. The win over Long Beach City snapped a two-year period where Cerritos saw their season come to an end in the position at the hands of their cross-tow rivals.

Seeded #8 for the playoff, the Falcons (14-6-3) will now host #21-seeded Santa Barbara College, who advanced past #13-seeded MiraCosta College, 5-4 on penalty kicks. The game will be held at Cerritos on Saturday at 2:00 p.m., with the winner advancing to the 3C2A State Tournament. The Vaqueros have wins over #12-seed Chaffey College, #5-seed LA Mission College and now the 13th-seeded Spartans. Last season, Cerritos defeated the Vaqueros, 1-0 in the 2nd Round of the playoffs.

Prior to the end of the first half, the Falcons held what looked like a commanding 3-1 lead, although the Vikings scored a pair of second half goals about a minute apart to tie the game. The two teams went the remainder of the contest without scoring, while the two teams combined for just three shot attempts during the 30-minute overtime period.

Fitting of a rivalry game, it was not without its controversial calls. In the final minutes of the second overtime, the referee called a penalty in the box by LBCC goalkeeper Christopher Ramirez, who came in the final two minutes in the event there were penalty kicks, when he brought down Gustavo Arias (Fairmont Prep HS). With Pedro Reyes (Connections HS/Cal State Fullerton) lining up to take the penalty kick with the game on the line, the officials overturned their call and the attempt was rescinded.

At the conclusion of the second overtime, the teams prepared to take penalty kicks. Falcons keeper Eduardo Enriquez (Linda Esperanza Marquez HS), who had already saved two penalty kicks during the regular season was set to square off against recently inserted goalkeeper Christopher Ramirez (Bishop Mora Salesian HS).

Both teams converted their first attempt, and with LBCC's Julian Zarate taking the second shot, Enriquez was able to make a move to his right side and turn away the low shot. Andres Nieto (Parkview HS) gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead when he converted his attempt. It was a 3-2 lead after both teams were good on their attempts, which led up to Enriquez making his second save when he successfully dove left to deny Kuliano Doty-Navarro. The with game on the line, Alejandro Oropeza (Banning HS/Santa Ana College; pictured left) calmly fired a low shot into the left corner, with the rest of the team erupting in excitement.

Long Beach City, who defeated Cerritos, 4-0 in their previous meeting this season, opened a 1-0 lead in the first half. Neither team would get off a shot the first 10 minutes of the game until the Vikings scored their first of two goals on corner kicks. Demetrious Tanks finished off the corner kick after it was sent by Jordi Pineda and first deflected by Asael Sales. Not panicking, the Falcons were able to tie the game in the 30th minute when Reyes lined up for a direct kick and fired a shot into the upper left corner for his second goal of the season.

The goal seemed to jumpstart the team, as they attacked the Vikings defense and needed just four minutes to take a 2-1 lead. Coming in fast against the Long Beach defense, Brandon Sanchez (Linda Esperanza Marquez HS) was able to find Arias on the left wing after his defender overplayed the pass, and Arias had a clear shot on goal that went into the upper corner for his team-leading 14th goal of the season.

It was only six minutes later when the lead swelled to 3-1 when Arias controlled a pass before he spotted Ramirez and he was successful on his shot for his 10th goal of the year. But for the second game in a row, Cerritos saw their two-goal lead disappear, as the Vikings scored twice in the first six minutes of the second half to tie the game.

Late in the game, defender Giancarlo Morales (Palos Verdes Peninsula HS) was in perfect position to turn away what looked like an open shot on goal, which took place in the 90th minute of regulation. The Cerritos defense was able to clear the ball out of the danger zone before a high percentage shot could be taken.

Photos by Daryl Peterson