Despite missing half of the players because of injuries, the men’s soccer team beat Cerritos, 2-1, Tuesday, and kept its playoff hopes alive.

With the victory, the Warriors improved their overall record to 7-7-3 and 5-5-2 in the South Coast Conference.

Only the top teams from each conference will automatically advance to playoffs, and the rest of the teams will be selected by their overall records.

“There is still a major possibility for us to go into the playoffs because the best teams in California are in our conference,” assistant coach Eddie Barragan said.

The squad will host its last two games against Compton College tomorrow and Mt. SAC on Monday at Murdock Stadium; both games will be played at 3 p.m..

The Warriors lost to Compton in a previous game, although they almost tied the game with only nine players left at the end of the game.

“We have to come out hard with the body we have to give our best shot,” Barragan said.

With only 11 players eligible for the game, the team beat Mt. SAC in a previous game, and Barragan looks optimistic about the next game against the Mounties.

“I think we would be fine against Mt. SAC,” Barragan said.

In a game against first-place Cerritos, the Warriors took a lead in the first half. The first goal for EC came from forward Jerry Anderson when he scored on a breakaway chance.

In the second half, Munir Massaud scored a goal from a crossing ball, extending the lead to 2-0.

While Cerritos made their final effort to score a goal toward the end of the game, EC kept playing hard until the end and seized a victory.

“It’s a good win for us because they are the first-place team and had lost only one game the whole season,” Barragan said.

The Warriors lost, despite coming back from a 2-0 deficit and tying the game in the second half against the L.A. Harbor Seahawks on Oct. 29.

The Warriors gave the Seahaws a penalty kick at the end of the game and lost the game, 3-2.

In the first half, the team was not playing well, as the Seahawks scored two goals early in the game.

“Our performance in the first half was beyound bad,” Barragan said.

As opposed to the first half, the Warriors played hard and managed to tie the game in the second half.

Anderson scored the first goal on a breakaway and forward Emilio Venegas kicked a ball into the net from a cross ball assisted by Anderson.

“We had four or five opportunities to score a goal including a one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but we could not finish,” Barragan said.

Missing the opportunities constantly stopped EC from dominating the game and changed the course of the game.

After the game, the Warriors were very distraught and dissapointed in how they lost to their cross-town rivals.

“It’s unfortunate that we lost, but we played hard and had a good game,” forward Saul Gonzalez said.