After playing eight games in three days last weekend at the Navy Labor Day Open in Annapolis (MD), the Cerritos College men's water polo team was happy with scheduling just two games at the Golden West Tournament on Friday. The Falcons (7-3) opened the morning with a close 16-14 setback at the hands of the host Rustlers, while the team responded with a 12-9 win over Orange Coast College in their second game of the day. Cerritos will now play a pair of games tomorrow at Citrus College and open with a 9:15 a.m. game against Cal Tech before a 1:00 p.m. contest against the host Owls.

In their hard-fought match against defending state champion Golden West, the Falcons were able to stay within striking distance throughout the contest, thanks to balanced scoring and the goalkeeping of sophomore Michael Skinas (La Serna HS). Freshman Miguel Garcia (Montebello HS) led the team with four goals, while sophomore Christian Flores (Monetebello HS) contributed three goals. Sophomore Rafael Romero (Montebello HS) did a fine job distributing the ball with four assists, along with sophomore Davey Brown (Whittier HS) posting a pair of assists and steals, with Skinas making 11 saves.

Of the 12 goals scored in the win over the Pirates, the trio of Romero, Garcia and sophomore Chad Castro (Whittier HS) each scored a pair of goals, while six other players scored one goal each and a trio of Falcons finished with two assists. Skinas, who made 10 saves and added a pair of steals, saw freshman Coleton Perez (Western HS) come on and make three saves in the one period he played.