Gahr dominates Cerritos in all areas in “other” football game

By Loren Kopff

Recently, Gahr has owned Cerritos on the football field every September but now, the Gladiators are beginning to duplicate the same trend in boys soccer. This past Tuesday, Gahr scored three times in the first 19 minutes and rolled to a 5-1 victory over the visiting Dons.
The Gladiators have not lost to the Dons since 2005, going 4-0-2 in the past six meetings (they didn’t play in 2006) but Cerritos still owns a 6-5-2 advantage since 1997. During the recent Gahr streak, it has outscored Cerritos 22-6. Both teams were coming off opposite results just 24 hours earlier as Gahr was on the short end of a 2-0 decision to defending Suburban League champion Norwalk while Cerritos had posted its first win of the season, 3-1, against La Quinta.
“I think our players were looking to respond to the defeat yesterday,” said Gahr head coach Jim Keating. “You can only play the opponent in front of you. Who was in front of us today? It was Cerritos.”
“In my opinion, the team yesterday was way stronger than it was in today’s game,” said Cerritos head coach Luis Paulo Oliveira. “Besides the fact that we have the fight, the tradition, our number one enemy, I think [Gahr] showed up to play and we didn’t show up to play for some reason.”
In the 10th minute, Gahr senior forward Edwin Colindres was on the receiving end of a long throw-in from senior defender Erick Lojan and headed in the first goal of the game. One minute later, junior midfielder Charles Gracien scored the first of his two goals from the right side of the penalty box. Then in the 19th minute, a header from senior midfielder Carlos Rincon made it 3-0.
The Dons (1-4-0) avoided the shutout nine minutes before halftime when senior forward Andrew Atilano scored off a corner kick. It was the second of two shots on goal for Cerritos in the entire game. Offensively, the Dons weren’t able to create any opportunities.
“Unfortunately for us at Cerritos high school, they wait until the [Suburban] League season comes to start working, to start putting more effort, to start coming to practice on a consistent basis,” Oliveira said. “As the season progresses, I’m hoping we will be able to achieve in some of the goals we have defensively, offensively and as a team.”
In the 37th minute, Gahr (1-1-1) had a chance for a fourth goal but a free kick from senior defender Carlos Garcia hit the crossbar. Still, the Gladiators were able to control the game better because Keating was playing virtually everyone on the roster. The last two goals were from senior forward Wasiem Rabie a minute into the second half and from senior midfielder Daniel Mayarol in the 71st minute. Gahr took 22 shots on goal in the game.
Both soccer programs are hoping for better success this season as they have recently struggled mightily. After reaching the playoffs in three straight seasons, the Gladiators have gone 19-42-14 overall and 8-25-7 in the San Gabriel Valley League in the past four seasons.
“Last year, getting a very late start to the season, the players weren’t fit and they weren’t prepared for the season,” Keating said. “This season, we’re better prepared. I think in some ways, programs have a culture about them; a mentality about them. I think for a while, the mentality of the program has been lackadaisical and apathetic. Iron sharpens iron, winning breeds winning and losing breeds losing. Now, it’s a chance to turn the program around to [the point] where we’re not going to accept mediocrity anymore.”
Gahr will host Whitney on Tuesday and even if the team doesn’t win a league title this season or advances to the playoffs, Keating is very pleased with the prospects of a competitive group in the near future.
“This program is very much a rebuilding program,” Keating said. “It is a very young squad with a big group of 10th graders coming through both the junior varsity and varsity teams. I don’t think we’re really going to see the full potential to this squad for about two more years.”
At Cerritos, it’s even worse with the Dons going 10-63-11 overall and 3-44-1 in league during the same four-year span entering this season. Cerritos will host Valley Christian today and visit Rancho Alamitos on Monday.
“I have 12 seniors right now who look like they are juniors or sophomores,” Oliveira said. “This is the year they need to step up.”