Cerritos College Falcons forward Alejandro Oropeza sealed a 4-2 victory on penalty kicks over the Long Beach City College Vikings in the third round of the men’s soccer Southern California Regional Playoff tournament after the game ended in a 3-3 tie after regulation and extra time.
“It’s a feeling I can’t even describe,” Oropeza said. “Our keeper did his job and it was up to me to end it and I’m thankful we’re going to the next round.”
The Falcons advanced to the fourth round of the tournament that will be held at Cerritos on Nov. 29 with the winner of that matchup moving on to the state portion of the 3C2A tournament.
Falcons goalkeeper Eduardo Enriquez made two saves in the shootout while his team was perfect in its four attempts.
Enriquez said, “I already knew I was going to save them, I wanted three, but I got two.”
“The whole team was MVP today, it wasn’t just me,” he added.
On the final play in extra time the referees overturned a foul call in the penalty box that would have given Cerritos a chance to extend its lead before the end of the match.
Cerritos’ third goal of the game proved to be significant as Long Beach City scored twice in the second half to tie the game and came after Brandon Sanchez made a tackle in the midfield that resulted in Christopher Ramirez scoring on an assist from Gustavo Arias.
Sanchez said, “The way I play is I just play my own game, set my own tempo and hopefully people follow along and clearly that’s what happened.”
Demetrious Tanks, Jiro Uchida and Andrew Zevallos all scored for the Vikings.
Long Beach City took an early 1-0 lead in the 14th minute when Tanks scored on a corner kick that was sent into the box by Jordi Pineda who recorded his first of two assists in the game.
After a hand ball was called outside of the Vikings’ penalty box in the 30th minute, Falcons forward Pedro Reyes tied the game with a shot on the awarded free kick.
Leading goal scorer for Cerritos, Arias, gave his team a 2-1 lead in the first half with his 14th goal of the season.
Cerritos had not beaten Long Beach City since the 2023 regular season and had been eliminated each of the last two seasons by the Vikings in the Southern California Regional Playoff tournament.
Falcons head coach Benny Artiaga said, “This was a team that knocked us out last year out of playoffs and knocked us out of our conference this year. So, for us to knock them out, it was a big itch to scratch.”
“Our team is right where we need to be. Our preparation, everything has been really good,” Artiaga added.
Enriquez said, “We’ve got to erase this. Enjoy these few minutes, erase it and then come back tomorrow and focus on what’s coming.”
Cerritos will face off against Santa Barbara City College who the Falcons defeated 1-0 in the second round of the regional playoffs in 2024 at home on Nov. 29.
