In the first game of the South Coast Conference Tournament, the Cerritos College Falcons gave it their all against the El Camino College Warriors, winning by a score of 2-1 on Nov. 7.

Cerritos College women’s soccer head coach Yvette Vascones, said, “The aspect that helped us win was that they kept fighting, which was a good thing.”

She added, “We bring what we watch on film to the field and work on the things that we need to work on.”

The Falcons were trailing after the Warriors scored four minutes into the game, but scored an equalizer before the end of the first half.

In the 18th minute of the first half, sophomore Christina Rodriguez gave Cerritos the lead with a rolling shot that snuck in right under the goalie.

It was Rodriguez’s second goal of the season.

“I felt like I should go in and just take a shot, which I did. At first, I didn’t think it was going to be a goal because it felt like a soft kick, but it was just wide enough for the keeper not to grab it fully,” she said.

The Falcons ended the first half in a tie, with both teams missing numerous opportunities to gain the upper hand.

There was a lot of back-and-forth play for the majority of the second half.

With 19 minutes left in the second half, the Falcons were able to get through the El Camino defense and break the tie.

Sophomore Jenna Santos sent a perfect ball across the field to sophomore Jessica Arroyo.

Arroyo said, “Well, obviously, being tied in the game, we were looking to get that winning goal, basically. So I saw the ball and opened up for it, saw it, controlled it and placed it.”

It meant a lot to her to score the winning goal, as the Falcons had been in this same position last year and lost to El Camino.

“It felt good to come out and get this, not only for myself, but for my teammates and coaches,” Arroyo added.

The El Camino Warriors were pressuring a lot toward the end of the second half, looking for an equalizer but the Cerritos defense stood their ground.

Freshman Paulina Prescott played all 90 minutes, making some crucial saves, with six of her eight saves in the second half.

It took everyone on the field in the last minutes to maintain the score and the win.

In this crucial game, both teams had over 10 shots on goal, but the final score of the game reflected fewer and was a result of opportunity.

Cerritos improved their conference results to 3-2-3, looking to start a winning streak. The Falcons hope to continue their journey to the conference finals and look to win in the semifinals.

“We continue to capitalize on the things that keep working with us, and we saw that with today’s win,” Vascones said.

“I think the belief they had in each other and taking advantage of the other team’s mistakes got us the win,” Vascones added.

The Falcon’s next match is the semifinal scheduled for Nov. 10 against 6-2-1 Long Beach City College, having only one loss on the season.