Cerritos women's water polo wins two on second day of Citrus Tournament

CCCAA WOMEN'S WATER POLO: Scoreboard l Standings

GLENDORA, Calif. - On the first day of the Citrus Tournament, the Cerritos College women's water polo team lost a pair of close games. But the Falcons came back strong on the second day with wins over both San Diego Miramar College (16-8) and Los Angeles Valley College (16-4). The losses came at the hands of American River College (12-8) and the host Owls (8-5). On Wednesday, Cerritos (9-6) will travel to Long Beach City College for a 3:00 p.m. South Coast Conference match.

Cerritos vs. American River: Falling behind, 3-0 in the first period and 6-3 at halftime, the Falcons slowly worked their way back into contention for the game. In the third period, sophomore Isabella Sierra (California HS) and freshman Hailey Rabb (Gahr HS) each scored to get the team to within 6-5, and after the Beavers went up by two goals, Sierra scored twice to get the team even at 7-7 with 2:20 left in the third period. American River went on to account for five of the next six goals to finish off the Falcons. Sierra led the team with six goals, while Rabb had five steals, three assists and two field blocks to help the team. Sophomore goalkeeper Ivanna Tostado (Troy HS) recorded eight saves and added a pair of steals.

Cerritos vs. Citrus: Another slow start hurt the Falcons, who were behind 5-1 to the Owls in the second period. Trailing 7-3 at halftime, Cerritos was held off the scoreboard, while Sierra scored both of her goals in the fourth period to get the team within three goals. Freshman Lizbeth Gomez (Schurr HS) also scored twice, with Rabb and sophomore Elisa Prohroff (Schurr HS) assisting on two goals. Sophomore Lindsay de Haas (Hacienda Heights Wilson HS) posted three steals, with Tostado turning away eight shots.

Cerritos vs. San Diego Miramar: The Falcons broke open a close 6-5 game at halftime by outscoring the Jets, 10-3 in the second half. Sierra was unstoppable, as she scored three times in the third period and added four more in the final eight minutes to secure the win. She finished with nine goals on 12 shots while drawing four ejections against Miramar. Long transitional passes by Tostado (13 saves) led to a pair of Sierra's goals in the fourth period, and finished with three helpers, while Prohroff posted five assists and freshman Jackie Oliveros (Gahr HS) had three assists. Gomez and de Haas each scored twice in the win for Cerritos.

Cerritos vs. Los Angeles Valley: Joining Sierra on the scoreboard twice in a five-goal first period was Gomez, as the Falcons turned a 5-1 lead into a 9-2 advantage at halftime. Gomez (six goals on nine shots), Sierra (four goals, two assists), as well as Oliveros and Prohroff who both had two goals, led a balanced attack for Cerritos. Six different players scored for the Falcons and Tostado kept the Monarchs off the scoreboard with 14 saves. With her goal-scoring barrage, Sierra has moved into third in the state with 65 goals.