M. Soccer: Unbeaten streak ended by Long Beach City

File Photo: Falcons played without defender Ronaldo Ibarra (3) in their loss to Long Beach
File Photo: Falcons played without defender Ronaldo Ibarra (3) in their loss to Long Beach

After shutout wins in their last six games, as well as a nine-game unbeaten streak, the Cerritos College men's soccer team was shut out by Long Beach City College, 2-0 on Friday. The setback comes on the heels of the team's biggest win of the season over Mt. San Antonio College and marks the third time the Falcons have played a full game without scoring this year. The team will conclude their South Coast Conference regular season against El Camino College at 2:00 p.m. next Tuesday. The game now has seeding implications for the conference tournament, although Cerritos has already clinched the South Division championship. The Falcons will be seeded either #1 or #2 based on next Tuesday's results.

"This was a tough loss today," said head coach Benny Artiaga. "Our guys had a tough time matching their energy in the first half. Hard work will beat talent the majority of the time. We'll get back to work sooner rather than later."

Playing without their leading scorer, Armando Ibarra, Jr. (Downey HS), as well as one of their better defenders, Ronaldo Ibarra (Montclair HS), the Falcons looked to other sources for offense. They were able to get off 12 shots, but only two were on goal. Defensively, Cerritos did limit the Vikings to just three shots on goal, but Jesus Moreno was able to get two shots past freshman goalkeeper Alex Ledesma (Bellflower HS), who had won his last seven starts and saw his shutout streak end at 510 minutes.

The loss also ended a six-game unbeaten streak (3-0-3) against the Vikings that dated back to 2016.