Playoffs are peaking around the corner for some teams, others have captured conference championships! It has been an overall successful week for the Mounties.

Let’s get you caught up on all the action from last week!

Tuesday, Nov. 1

Women’s soccer

The Mounties capped off a perfect season in the South Coast Conference North, hanging another shutout victory in the record books, defeating the Los Angeles Harbor Seahawks 4-0.

Currently ranked No. 4 in the CCCSIA Poll, the Mounties managed to carry the momentum of winning 15 consecutive games and haven’t lost since September.

The sophomore core came through once again. Midfielder Kaylee Gutierrez (22) led the Mounties attack scoring a goal of her own and assisting on two more. Gutierrez’s 16th goal this season puts her in the 10th spot of the top 10 scorers in the state for the season.

Fellow sophomore defender Fatima Arnold (18) scored and assisted on goals of her own. She is currently second in assists with 14 in the state.

Forward Ayuka Toshimoto (9) and midfielder Karissa Vela (10) scored off the two assists from Gutierrez.

Goalkeeper Leila Pergrinia (1) recorded her 15th start this season and improved her goals-against average to 0.34, ranking her third in the state. Pergrinia has six solo shutouts and six combined shutouts for the season.

The Mounties begin their postseason run on Tuesday, Nov. 8 against a familiar foe, Rio Hondo Roadrunners. But due to weather conditions, it is rescheduled to Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 2 p.m.

Men’s soccer

The Mounties closed out its regular-season with a six-game winning streak and shutout victory of their own.

Sophomore forward Andrew Vazquez (14) recorded a pair of goals, making his season total 11. Both goals were assisted off of beautiful dimes from sophomore midfielder Alex Mendez (10).

Aside from the two from Vazquez, it was a balanced scoring display of the frontline as sophmore forward Edward Castro (11), freshman forward Frank Gonzalez (12), sophomore forward Christian Barboza (9) and freshman striker Ernesto Figueroa (27) each tallied a goal apiece.

Sophomore goalkeeper Jacob Cardenas (1) recorded the only save between him and fellow goalie Daniel Ramirez (77) in the split action.

Thanks to an earlier season victory over the Rio Hondo Roadrunners, the Mounties finished first in the SCC North Division. They will kick off the semifinals of the South Coast Conference tournament on Wednesday Nov. 9 at 5 p.m. due to weather conditions.

Wednesday, Nov. 2

Wrestling

Congratulations to the men’s wrestling team on securing another SCC championship. Though unable to secure the coveted No. 1 ranking in the state, it came down, once again between the No. 2 Cerritos Falcons and the No. 3 Mounties, who had been neck and neck all season.

The Mounties did make their case for the second place spot with a 22-19 upset of the Falcons in SWCA Southwest action, giving them a 1-1 record against the Falcons, but are currently ranked No. 3 in the CCCAA polls.

Men’s basketball

Mounties basketball is under way! The Mounties men’s basketball opened their pre-season against the No. 3 team from the South Region, Citrus College owls.

In a resilient effort, the Mounties fell behind by as much as 16 points in the first half and cut it to a single digit lead only to fall, 78-71.

Freshman guard Nick Hopkins (10) led the team in scoring with 19 points on 3-3 shooting from the field and 13-17 at the charity stripe. He also added seven rebounds and three steals.

Sophomore guards Nah Laurie (3) and Jay Milner (5) combined for 25 points, 15 and 10 respectively.

The first half saw the Mounties get into transitions with some consistency but the Owls stretched the lead into 9 with a four-point run, and never looked back. Cutting it to a six-point game in the fourth quarter with 2:01 left was the closest the Mounties would come to sniffing a lead.

Next weekend, the Mounties will host the annual Gene Victor Memorial Classic with their opening game against Grossmont on Thursday, Nov. 10.

Women’s volleyball

The Mounties maintained their SCC first-place lead after a 3-1 victory over El Camino.

With two in-conference matches remaining, the Mounties hold a 2-game lead over second-place Rio Hondo Roadrunners.

Sophomore pairs outside hitter Angelina Burton (9) and opposite hitter Allison Whiteman (23) combined for 29 kills. Whiteman was named the CCCAA State Player of the Week this past week.

Sophomore setters Kylie Rhodes (7) and freshman setter Capri Salmon (22) each recorded at least 18 assists with 24 and 18 respectively.

The first set saw a tightly contested game. The Mounties held a one-point, 23-22 lead and were able to close out the first set thanks to an ace from sophomore outside hitter JJ Quarrels (11). After the first set, the Mounties dominated the second set, jumping out to a 8-2 lead that ballooned into a 24-14 lead.

The Warriors wouldn’t go down without a fight, taking the third set to set up a potential gentleman’s sweep for the Mounties. The fourth would be the final set of the match as Burton and Whiteman closed out the victory with two clutch kills.

The Mounties will host East Los Angeles. Huskies on Nov. 9 at 6 p.m.

Thursday, Nov. 3

Men’s water polo

The Mounties hosted Cerritos College Falcons. It was all offense from the jump. A four-point lead resulting in six total tie scores.

Going tick for tack, the first quarter ended in a flurry of goals from both teams. 5-3, good guys trailing heading into the second quarter. Freshman utility Zack Ewing (16) opened up the second quarter with a score to cut the lead to one and would record another later the same quarter to tie the game. Ewing would finish the game with a team high four goals.

Ultimately, the Falcons were able to outscore the Mounties in the fourth quarter 3 goals to 2, resulting in a 12-11 loss for the Mounties.

Friday, Nov. 4

Cross country

The 2022 Southern California Cross Country Championship Meet saw both the men’s and women’s cross country teams finish in the top 2, second and first respectively.

On the men’s side, sophomore Jesus Alvarado finished first out of 190 runners with an impressive time of 19:28.23 which was a full 22 seconds ahead of second place. The Mounties had four others turn in top-30 times including sophomore Jalen Griego with 20:12.89 in 12th , sophomore Jonathan Pfeiffer with 20:14.78 in 13th, freshman Austin Ledgerwood with 20:26.29 in 21st and sophomore Elijah Ocegueda with20:34.01 in 27th.

For the ladies, sophomore Hannah Brown, who has dominated all year, finished second in a field of 130 runners. Like their male teammates, they also had an additional four others turn in top 30: sophomore Claudia Vera with 18:27.17 finished 5th, freshman Ingrid Tamayo with 18:52.53 finished 13th, freshman Natalyn Membrano with 19:20.81, finished 19th and freshman Cassandra Apahidean with 19:26.63 finished 24th.

The Mounties’ 2022 campaign will conclude on Saturday, Nov. 19, at the California Community College Athletic Association State Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno.

Women’s water polo

Winning a game by forfeit may not sit well with some athletes. So, what do you do? Take it out on your next opponent. And that’s exactly what the Mounties did against Cerritos Falcons.

The first half saw multiple ties and lead changes, resulting in a 4-4 tie heading into halftime.

Once the second half started, the Mounties wouldn’t look back scoring four unanswered goals. Three of which came in the third quarter in which the Mounties surrendered zero goals.

Sophomore attacker Alexis Ramirez (9) spearheaded the Mountie offense with three goals, bringing her season total to 38.

Women’s basketball

Talk about firing on all cylinders, it’s not every day you beat a team by a hundred. Literally! Well, actually 106.

The Mounties hosted the three-day Linda G. Smith Tip-Off Tournament this weekend and opened their homestand against Barstow Vikings. They came out of the gates like bats out of hell.

When you play against a team that only has six active players, you run them out of the gym. Literally.

The Mounties scored 46 unanswered points before surrendering a transition layup to make it a 44-point lead.

Needless to say, the Mounties put it in cruise control in the second half. As a team, the Mounties were 57 for 88 from the field, with a 64.8% shooting percentage and put on a Fort Knox worthy defensive performance with 33 steals. Heading into the fourth quarter, the Vikings finally reached double digits making the score 99-12.

Seven players scored in double figures and every player who registered playing time scored at least two points.

A dominant and complete team effort.

Saturday, Nov. 5

Women’s water polo

For the fifth time in the last seven seasons, the Mounties have fallen to the Long Beach City College Vikings in the SCC Championship game.

The last time the Mounties defeated the Vikings in a conference game was back in 2013, when Obama was still in office and LeBron was in South Beach.

The Mounties finished with an 8-2 record in the SCC and is currently 16-9 overall. This is the most wins since the 2018 season.

Next up for the Mounties, a CCCAA Southern California Regionals playoff berth and the quest for state begins on Thursday, Nov. 10.

Men’s water polo

After a close loss to Cerritos Falcons in the SCC Tournament semifinal match, the Mounties looked to rebound by shaking the last loss off.

And they did. Blowing out the El Camino Warriors in the process, 23-11. With the victory, the Mounties moved to 15-14 overall on the year.

Outscoring the Warriors 8-1 in the first quarter, the Mounties opened the game with eight-straight unanswered goals till a goal to beat the buzzer after sophomore driver Aidan Murphy (2) scored with 0:12 left in the quarter.

Freshman utility Brandon Fabrega (22) totaled five goals and seven steals. Fabrega is fourth in the state with 103 goals and third in steals with 85.

Up next is the CCCAA Southern California Regionals on Thursday, Nov. 10. The game will be a rematch with No. 8 Seed Cerritos Falcons, which defeated the No. 9 Seed Mounties, 12-11, in the SCC semifinals. The winner will face top seed Golden West (22-3) on Friday, Nov. 11, who are the CCCAA defending state champions.

Football

In their final regular-season home game, the Mounties beat the breaks off Palomar Comets in a 31-10 victory.

What started as a slow game for the Mounties turned into a second half offensive display. Taking a 10-7 lead into the half, they scored 14 unanswered points in the third quarter. The first coming from Ike Udengwu III (0) to Shemar Savage (8) for a 44-yard touchdown score.

Sophomore running back Reaven Tribune (23) led the Mounties ground game with 106 yards rushing on 11 carries, including a 68-yard run in the third to set up a three-yard touchdown that he cashed in off a pass from Udengwu.

Sophomore defensive lineman Daniel Tupola (99), led the Mounties defense with six tackles, while teammates Anthony Herbert (3) and Lantz Russell (22) added four tackles each with 4 solo and 3 solo respectively.

The victory keeps the Mounties tied for second with Cerritos Falcons, who is currently 7-2, 3-1 in conference, in the NCC standings, setting up a showdown in Norwalk on Saturday, Nov. 12, at 6 p.m. The Falcons are coming off a 52-45 NCC loss to conference-leading Riverside City College Tigers, the top-ranked team in the state.

Women’s basketball

After stomping out their last opponents, the Mounties hoped this matchup would be closer. It was but still resulted in a 31-point Mounties blowout victory over the Merritt Thunderbirds.

Rebounding was a key factor in this game. As the Mounties outrebounded the Thunderbirds 46-27. Once again, the defense put on a stallworth of an effort, recording 23 steals and 5 blocks as a team. Sophomore guard Kamesha Moore (14) posted a team-high seven steals along with 14 points and three assists.

Sophomore guard Jamaya Mickens (21) and sophomore forward Kameria Piggee (50) both tallied double digits in their contributions to the win with 12 and 10 points respectively.

The fourth quarter was the only quarter in which the Mounties were outscored, 19-12. But it didn’t matter. Reserves emptied the bench and we put it in cruise control to close out.