W. Water Polo: Lead slips away in conference opener

Women's swimming team placed fifth at the Golden West Invitational
Women's swimming team placed fifth at the Golden West Invitational

In their South Coast Conference opener on Wednesday at Mt. San Antonio College, the Cerritos College women's water polo team led the majority of the game. But that lead slipped away, as the host Mounties (2-1, 1-0) handed the Falcons (2-3, 0-1) a 7-6 setback by outscoring them, 3-1 in the fourth quarter. Cerritos will now compete in the Chaffey Tournament over the weekend.

Cerritos held a 4-2 lead at halftime and then were clinging to a 5-4 advantage at the end of the third quarter. Once again, the team was getting their fair share of scoring chances, and converted three 6-on-5 advantages in the second quarter. But they were 0-for-6 to start the game on man-advantages and missed one in the fourth quarter. In the game, the Falcons scored their six goals on 30 shot attempts.

Freshmen Alexandra Lopez (Whittier HS) and Celeste Ibarra (Gahr HS) led the team with a pair of goals each, while Lopez also recorded three steals. Freshman Kaitlyn Mendez (Cerritos HS) also posted three steals, while freshman goalkeeper Catherine Borunda (El Rancho HS) made seven saves in the loss.