In their third tournament of the season, the Cerritos College men's water polo team split their four games at the Golden West Tournament over the weekend. The Falcons (7-6) will open South Coast Conference play on Wednesday with a 3:00 p.m. home match against Chaffey College. It will be their first home match of the season.

Cerritos vs. Palomar: In their first match of the tournament, the Falcons recorded a 15-8 win, as they started to pull away in the second half after a close first two quarters. Coming out of halftime with a 7-4 advantage, Cerritos scored the first two and last two goals of the third quarter to open an 11-6 lead. In that stanza, freshman Joshua Lamberton (Glendora HS) scored twice and then opened the fourth quarter with his team-leading fourth goal of the game. A goal by sophomore Kobe Hurtado (Cerritos HS) made it a 13-6 lead, as the Falcons went on for the comfortable win.

In addition to Lamberton's four goals, Hurtado added three goals, while sophomores Silvestre Chavez (Downey HS) and Daniel Benitez (Paramount HS) each posted a pair of goals in the win. The freshman goalkeeping tandem of Henry De Luna Pena (Baldwin Park HS) and Diego Campos (Downey HS) combined to turn away 10 shots, while De Luna Pena also assisted on a goal.

Cerritos vs. Golden West: Taking on the host and perennial state power Rustlers, the Falcons battled all the way to the end, as they always do with the toughest competition. Down, 5-2 after the first period, the Cerritos defense stepped up and limited Golden West a single goal in the second and fourth periods. Although they found themselves down, 9-3, third period goals by freshman Timothy Robles (Schurr HS), sophomore Allan Jimenez (Schurr HS) and Lamberton brought the team to within 9-7 heading into the final eight minutes. It was a 9-7 game when Jimenez scored with 4:27 remaining, but that was as close as the team would get.

Robles also assisted on three goals, while Lamberton drew four exclusions to go along with his two goals. Campos made eight saves in the second half

Cerritos vs. Saddleback: Looking to snap a five-game losing streak against the Bobcats dating back to 2021, the Falcons held an early lead, but allowed five fourth period goals in a 17-12 loss. Cerritos scored the first two goals of the game, but saw Saddleback score consecutive goals four separate times in the game, while the Falcons could only pull that off once after the first period. Down 8-6 coming out of halftime, and then 9-6, Cerritos received goals from Chavez and Jacob Colon (Schurr HS) to get to within 9-8 with 4:34 remaining in the third period. However, the Bobcats accounted for three of the next five goals in the period and opened the fourth period with another goal for a 13-10 advantage. Jimenez and Chavez each scored in the period to make it a 14-12 game with 4:57 left, but Saddleback scored the final three goals of the game

Chavez scored four times in the match, with Jimenez and Lamberton each posting three goals. Robles assisted on four goals and drew four exclusions, with Colon adding three helpers with his goal.

Cerritos vs. Southwestern: They closed out the tournament with a 22-15 win over Southwestern College, as the offense showed their explosive capabilities. Trailing 5-3 early in the second period, consecutive goals by Colon, Lamberton, Chavez and Estrada pushed the team in front, 7-5 and they never trailed again. A last-minute goal by Colon sent the team into halftime leading, 11-9 and then came out quickly in the third quarter to extend their advantage. Colon, Jimenez and a pair of tallies from Lamberton opened the quarter, which extended their lead to 15-9, while the Falcons added six fourth quarter goals in the win.

Lamberton led the way with eight goals, with Colon and sophomore Eric Estrada (Cerritos HS) each chipping in with three goals. Nine different players scored for Cerritos, with Chavez posting four assists, with Robles and Lamberton adding three more. De Luna Pena and Campos combined for 10 saves.