“I wasn’t keeping count,” said Sakonju, whose team is ranked No. 2 in the latest division poll behind Rio Mesa. “We didn’t convert on those chances and that certainly hurt.
“We are improving in that area, though, because we’ve done a better job at passing and looking for each other. Typically, we’ve been pretty good, but I don’t know what happened [Wednesday].”
The Falcons failed to convert on their first eight man-advantage opportunities. They finally capitalized in the fourth quarter, when Matt Peters scored to cut Cerritos’ lead to 11-7 with 5:53 left. Chris Veselich, a reigning All-Area first-team member, then converted with 1:33 remaining to make it 11-8.
“At first, we were looking shaky,” said Peters, who paced Crescenta Valley with a team-high three goals. “They kept counter-attacking us and our shots just wouldn’t go down.”
Cerritos (6-3) led throughout the entire 28-minute match. The Dons, who are ranked No. 5 in Division IV behind Palos Verdes, Mira Costa, Agoura and Royal, got a match-best five goals from Alwin Firmansyah and three from Jason Lee. Firmansyah completed the hat trick when he scored with 1:12 left in the first quarter to give Cerritos a 6-2 lead.
The Dons held a comfortable 9-3 halftime lead before the Falcons made a comeback bid midway through the third quarter. Daniel Olson, Martin Rivera and Alan Dearman, who earned All-Area accolades last season, each scored once in a 90-second span to pull the Falcons to within 9-6 with 2:33 remaining in the third stanza.
Cerritos then scored two goals in the final two minutes of the quarter to build an 11-6 lead.
“We had a demoralizing first quarter,” said Sakonju, who was named the All-Area Coach of the Year last season. “We rallied to get back by showing improvement.
“We are still trying to find our way.”
