Cougars fall to No. 4 nationally-ranked Cerritos

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 27^th and 39^th minutes. Joel Meza finally got the Cougars on the board, scoring an unassisted goal moments before halftime in the 43^rd 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 60^th minute and assisted on Nicholas Correa's goal in the 81^st.

Brandon Munoz closed out the game's scoring for Taft, getting his shot past Cerritos keeper Jose Azepeitia in the 85^th 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.