Locked in a physical battle with visiting Fullerton College on Friday, the Cerritos College women's soccer team came back for a 2-1 non-conference win. The Falcons (2-5-1) will travel to Santiago Canyon College for a 4:00 p.m. non-conference match next Tuesday.

Trailing 1-0 in the first half, freshman Sariah Sanchez (La Sierra HS) sent a nice crossing pass over the Hornets (2-3-0) defense to the foot of Jessica Arroyo (Buena Park HS), who chipped in a goal in extra time. That goal provided the Falcons the momentum that carried over into the second half.

Throughout the day, Cerritos was able to control the tempo of the game and were one pass away from getting many more good looks at the Fullerton goal.

In the 66th minute, the Falcons took the lead for good, as sophomore Ariana Rivera (Long Beach Millikan HS) used her speed to put her in position to net her third goal of the season. On the play, sophomore Jenna Santos (St. Joseph HS) pushed the ball out of danger and fed a nice pass to Rivera, who did the rest of the work for the eventual game-winning goal. Early in the second half, Rivera lined a shot off the crossbar.

Freshman goalkeeper Paulina Prescott (Downey HS) prevented Fullerton from tying the game, as she went up and deflected a hard-struck ball by Liliana Preto late in the second half. Prescott made five saves on the day.

Photos by Daryl Peterson