Freshman goalkeeper Benito Gonzalez had nothing to worry about during his surprising start against the Long Beach City College Vikings on Tuesday afternoon, as solid defense from the Cerritos College Falcons men’s soccer team sheltered him from any real threat throughout a majority of its 3-1 victory.

The Falcons, who have now improved to a 4-1 record in the conference, maintained a majority of the possession and had nearly quadruple the amount of shots on target, totaling nine in comparison to the Vikings’ two.

Freshman forward Thiago Lusardi slotted home two goals in the game, which couldn’t have come at a better time as they were his first two of the season.

“Overall we played well both offensively and defensively,” said Lusardi.

“I finally scored my first two goals of the season, so I was very happy, and I feel like we did a good job,” Lusardi explained.

Lusardi scored the first goal of the game just past the three and a half minute mark, striking from the left side of the 18-yard box to take an early one-goal lead.

He repeated the feat just after the twenty-second minute, as Nicholas Escalante flicked a free kick from Gerardo Soto, which found Lusardi’s forehead to put the Falcons ahead by two goals going into halftime.

After making some adjustments at the half, the Vikings came out and began the second half in attack mode, piecing together a string of passes on two consecutive occasions to force Gonzalez to be on alert for one of the first times in the game.

However, after numerous failed attempts, Cerritos College found the opportunity to capitalize on the transition attack and Escalante’s foot was targeted off of Dominic Escobar’s cross to take a 3-0 lead in the fifty-fourth minute.

“We started strong and we were able to connect (our passes) and we didn’t let them over come us… we got the early goal and that’s what broke them down,” said Escalante.

Escalante adds, “We continued working, and we were able to finish them off in the second half.”

The Vikings were able to snatch a goal with 10 minutes remaining in the competition, coming after Gonzalez gave up a penalty which Long Beach City easily put away to deny the shut out.

The Falcons face their second away game of the week on Friday, as they travel to Pasadena City College to face the Lancers at 4 p.m.