In a physical match, the No. 7 Santa Barbara City College women’s soccer team was eliminated from the playoffs with its 3-0 loss against No. 2 Cerritos College Tuesday afternoon at Cerritos.

The Vaqueros struggled in the game and found themselves outplayed by the Falcons.

“Mentally we came into the thinking we would win easily, but we never really got going,” Vaquero forward Kendra Remedios said.

Despite match’s extremely physical nature, the referees did not distribute a card to either squad.

“We really are not a physical team,” Vaquero’s coach John Sisterson. “We play a more finesse style and the refs were letting a lot of things go that took us out of are game a bit.”

The Falcons controlled the play in the first half and scored twice, giving them the 2-0 led at halftime.

“We did not play very well in the first half, but still we were able to control most of the play and get two goals so that makes up for it a little,” Cerritos head coach Ruben Gonzalez said.

The Falcons opened the scoring 15 minutes into the game when forward Yasmin Torres received a pass from Beatriz Cornejo and kicked the ball past goalkeeper Ashley Menin, who had left the right corner of net wide open.

Cerritos’ second goal of the half came when forward Monique Ciseneros found herself alone in the middle of the field and was able to score, giving the Falcons the 2-0 lead with just seconds left before halftime.

The Vaqueros did have some opportunities of their own–the best being when they bounced a shot off of the post and the ball caromed harmlessly away.

“We came out tired and Cerritos was very quick,” said Vaquero defender Michelle Schenone.

In the second half, the Falcons continued to dominate the Vaqueros and scored another goal and shut down Santa Barbara’s offense for the remainder of the contest.

The only goal of the second half came off the head of the country’s second-leading scorer, Cerritos’ Corina Villegas, after midfielder Rebecca Juarez assisted her.

“In the second, we came out with a lot more intensity and although we only scored once I was much happier with the overall play,” Gonzalez said.

The loss marks the second year in row the City College women’s team has been ousted in the second round of the playoffs. Last year, the team lost to the eventual state champion Cypress.

Overall it was an outstanding season for the Vaqueros, and in preparation for next year, Sisterson said that the team will continue to practice by playing scrimmages during the spring.

-Scott Watkins is the Sports Editor for Talon Marks student newspaper at Cerritos College.