Coming into Tuesday's non-conference game against visiting Cerritos College, the Taft College men's soccer team knew it would have to play at its best to come away with a win as the Falcons entered the contest unbeaten in their last 32 contests and were ranked No. 4 in the nation.
Cerritos proved why, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first half before handing Taft a 4-2 defeat. The non-conference loss dropped the Cougars to 2-4-1 overall while Cerritos moved to 8-0-1.
Bryan Ortega scored consecutive goals in the first for Cerritos, beating Taft goalkeeper Sergio Gonzalez in the 27th and 39th minutes. Joel Meza finally got the Cougars on the board, scoring an unassisted goal moments before halftime in the 43rd minute.
With the lead cut in half, the Falcons answered with two more goals. Ortega completed the hat trick with his third goal in the 60th minute and assisted on Nicholas Correa's goal in the 81st.
Brandon Munoz closed out the game's scoring for Taft, getting his shot past Cerritos keeper Jose Azepeitia in the 85th minute.
The Cougars will look to end a three-game winless streak when they return to action on Friday (Sep. 27). Taft will face another nationally-ranked opponent, hosting No. 16 Santa Ana College at 4 p.m.