Serving as one of the hosts of the Battle at the Beach once again, the Cerritos College women's water polo team recorded one win in their four games. On the first day, the team was defeated, 16-7 by #2-ranked Santa Barbara City College and then followed with a thrilling 9-8 victory over Saddleback College. Cerritos opened Saturday with a tough 12-9 loss against #6-ranked Cuesta College and capped off the weekend with an 11-7 loss to Los Angeles Valley College.

On Wednesday, the Falcons (12-11) will host Mt. San Antonio College (11-11) with the winner earning the #2-seed for the South Coast Conference Tournament.

Cerritos vs. Santa Barbara City: Facing the Vaqueros, the team trailed 10-2 at halftime. They were able to convert some of their offensive plays in the second half by scoring five times, which included consecutive goals in the third period by freshman Monserrat Rodriguez (Western HS), who finished with a team-high three goals. Freshman goalie Jayden-Starr Smith (Buena Park HS) posted six steals and made 12 saves in goal.

 

Cerritos vs. Saddleback: The Falcons, who led the majority of the game, and to hold off the Bobcats for the close win. After Saddleback took the lead at 5-4 for the first time in the game, Cerritos scored five straight goals to post their largest lead of the game at 9-5. Smith started the scoring with a two-skip shot from just inside the halfway point of the pool to tie the game, while freshmen Jasmine Escorcia (Western HS), Ceci Ortiz-Miranda (El Rancho HS), as well as sophomore Camila Oliveira (Cerritos HS) and freshman Isabella Ochoa (California HS) also added goals. The Falcon defense came up big during that scoring streak, with Smith playing a huge role with her aggressive play. Freshman Luna Huitron (Warren HS) put the team in front 10-6 with 3:39 left and had to hold off a late Bobcats run, as they scored the game's final three goals. They missed a huge opportunity to tie the game when they missed scoring on a wide-open net. Ochoa led the team with three goals, while Smith also assisted on a goal, posted three steals and made 11 saves.

 

Cerritos vs. Cuesta: The Falcons looked as though they were able to post their biggest upset of the season when they opened a 9-7 lead in the third period after consecutive goals from Escorcia, Ortiz-Miranda and Ochoa. But Cerritos was unable to add to their total, with the Cougars providing the game's final five goals, with four of them coming in the fourth period. Escorcia scored four times and assisted on two others, while Rodriguez added three goals. Smith, who assisted on one of the goals, turned away six shots in goal and added five steals.

 

Cerritos vs. LA Valley: In their final game of the tournament, a tough second period did in the Falcons, as a close 3-2 game turned into an 8-3 deficit by halftime. A pair of goals by Escorcia snapped a run where the Monarchs scored nine of 11 goals in the game to pull the team to within 9-6 heading into the fourth period. But LA Valley opened the fourth by scoring the first two goals and the deficit was too much to overcome. Escorcia scored three of the team's goals, while Smith not only turned away eight shots in goal, she also posted five steals, scored a goal and assisted on another.