The Long Beach City College women's soccer team earned its biggest win of the season after upsetting top-ranked Cerritos College by a final score of 2-1 in a South Coast Conference game on the Falcons' home field on Tuesday.
Cerritos entered the contest ranked No. 1 in the recent CCCAA/CCCSIA state rankings and was also ranked No. 3 in the nation in the latest NSCAA Division III poll. The loss was just the first of the season for the Falcons, who dropped to 9-1-1 overall and 4-1-0 in the SCC.
After scoring just one goal over its past four games, the Vikings put together just enough offense for its stellar defense to hold on for the win.
Long Beach stunned Cerritos early, getting a goal in the 15th minute. After a hand ball was called inside the Cerritos box, sophomore goalkeeper Jeanette DeAnda (pictured) made her way all the way across the field to take the direct free kick. DeAnda calmly drilled a shot into the upper right corner of the net to beat Cerritos goalie Maria Santoyo for a 1-0 Viking lead.
The Vikings added to the lead with a goal in the 61st minute by freshman Rocio Hernandez. After a pass from sophomore Brooke Denton, Hernandez was able to nail her shot off the hands of Santoyo and into the net for the 2-0 advantage.
Long Beach nearly posted a shutout, but Cerritos got a goal from Claudia Ibarra in added time just moments before the final whistle.
DeAnda had a huge game for the Vikings, not only scoring the first goal, but also coming up with 11 saves in the contest.
Long Beach, now 5-3-3 overall and 1-1-3 in conference, returns to action on Friday (Oct. 12) when it hosts El Camino College – Compton Center in a 4 p.m. SCC game.
Photo by Chris Ruiz