by Dennis McCall
Taft Midway Driller
Taft College got a measure of revenge Tuesday when the Cougar men's soccer team shut out defending state champion Cerritos 2-0 on the home field.
The Falcons beat the Cougars 1-0 in last season's state semi-finals. It was a loss that spoiled Taft's perfect record and a shot at, not only a state championship, but a national title. Had TC won and gone on to beat Mt. San Antonio in the championship match the Cougars would have been No. 1 in the national coaches poll. TC beat both Cerritos and Mt. SAC in regular season play.
The loss for Cerritos added to a stunning start for the defending state champs, who are still looking for its first win. After ruling the California soccer scene last year the Falcons find themselves 0-4-2.
After a scoreless first half TC got goals in the 65th and 83rd minutes to seal the win.
Luis Martinez, a freshman midfielder from Porterville, drilled home the ice-breaker on a pass from sophomore forward Aldahir Perez (Shafter High) to give the Cougars all the scoring they would need.
Perez clinched the victory with a goal of his own with seven minutes remaining, getting an assist from sophomore defender Enrique Garcia (Ridgeview High).
The Cougars are 3-2-0 heading into today's match against Las Positas College in Livermore. They will host El Camino College next Wednesday at 3 p.m.
Women beat East L.A
Meanwhile, the Cougar women's team evened its non-conference record at 3-3 with a 2-1 victory at East Los Angeles College.
All of the scoring was in the first half.
In the 10th minute Arielle Stoyanow, a sophomore midfielder from Hawaii, scored an unassisted goal, and 20 minutes later Stoyanow sent a pass that sophomore midfielder Alexia Gonzalez (Highland High) put into the back of the net for what proved to be the game-winner.
The loss was ELA's fourth without a win.
The Cougars take a week off to prepare for a four-match home streak, beginning next Tuesday when Lassen College comes to town. After that it will be Los Angeles Pierce on Sept. 25, Rio Hondo on Sept. 29 and College of the Desert on Oct. 6.