Forward Nancy Gandarilla notched a goal and two assists, while Tiffany Schultz, Jessica Ortiz and Daniela Mendez each added one goal apiece in the Cerritos women’s soccer team’s 4-0 victory over Pasadena on Friday.
The win followed on the heels of Cerritos’ first loss of the season earlier in the week against conference rival Mt. San Antonio, which snapped a 46-game unbeaten streak.
The Falcons (8-1) were unable to break through the crowded Lancers defense in a frustrating first half, with Pasadena (3-5-1) seemingly content with the 0-0 score line at the break.
Gandarillas struck first from the top of the box for Cerritos in the 65th minute, off an assist from Ortiz.
Five minutes later, Gandarillas laid off a pass for an onrushing Schultz, who buried her shot in the lower right corner.
In the 83rd minute Ortiz made the most of a Gandarillas cross to push the score to 3-0, before Mendez capped off the scoring with a tap in just before the end of regulation.
“Everyone got pumped up after the first [goal],” Gandarillas said. “Once we got one, we knew we could get more.”
Scoring that first goal was no easy feat with the Pasadena opting to go with an unconventional six defenders from the start.
Coach Ruben Gonzalez was surprised, but unimpressed with the heavily defensive tactics of his counterpart.
“It was kind of frustrating. They figured they didn’t have the skill to compete with us, so they wanted to come and try for a 0-0 tie. I don’t know. Maybe if I was in their shoes, I would do the same thing,” he said.
Gandarillas felt perturbed by the swarming defense as well.
“It was getting frustrating. Every time you got the ball there would be two players on you,” she said.
After being unable to beat a seemingly endless sea of defenders in the first half, Cerritos was far more successful after a tactical change from Gonzalez.
“We had to open up things in the second half and go outside more. We knew after the first goal it would open up a bit,” he said.
On the field, players like midfielder Laura Ropp made the most of these changes. Ropp was instrumental in initiating the attack in the second half.
“In the first half it was too hard to try and go through the middle. The second half we were able to connect more and switch the ball more, so that helped,” Ropp pointed out.
The disparity between the two teams was most evident not from the scoreboard, but the fact that Cerritos outshot the Lancers 31-1.
Despite allowing four goals, Pasadena goalkeeper Yvette Hernandez had a stand out game, recording 11 saves.
Cerritos, now 1-1 in conference play, will look to extend its new win streak when it faces off against ECC Compton on Tuesday at Cerritos.
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