VC Split Pair at Mt. SAC Tournament

The Pirates' men's water polo team defeated Rio Hondo 15-9 in their first game at the Mt. San Antonio Tournament on Friday before falling to Orange Coast 14-8. Andre Galvez once again led the offensive effort with eight goals, two assists and seven drawn ejections while totaling four steals. Mariano Galvez had 26 saves in the cage. Benjamin Sweet and Zane Herman each scored four times in the two games for the Pirates (4-3).

Ventura 15, Rio Hondo 9

The Pirates grabbed an early lead and hung on against the Roadrunners in their opening game of the tournament. Andre scored in the opening minute of the contest, and after a RHC goal, Sweet netted a pair of goals and Herman found the inside of the cage for a 4-1 Ventura advantage.  

Anthony Ibarra scored on VC's first possession of the second quarter before the Roadrunners netted three goals to tie the score at 5-5. Alexis Nava produced a goal at the 1:15 mark of the period and the Pirates led 6-5 at halftime.

Janson Cunningham's goal to begin the third quarter opened up a small margin for Ventura, and the Pirates traded scores with Rio Hondo until Herman and Sweet scored back-to-back goals to close the third for a 11-8 lead at the quarter break.

Andre scored three times to open the final stanza and put the game on ice for VC. Herman's goal in the final minute of play set the 15-9 margin.

Andre led the effort with five goals, two assists and five drawn ejections on offense while grabbing four steals defensively. Herman finished the game with four goals and three thefts and Sweet scored three times. Nava had four helpers and four steals while Christian Scanlan had a pair of assists. Mariano recorded seven saves for the game in goal.

Ventura 8, Orange Coast 14

In a battle of Pirates in Friday's finale, VC was unable to keep up with the Pirates from the south. Andre scored on VC's opening possession of the contest to tie the score at 1-1 before OCC scored three straight to take control early. Ventura trailed 5-2 at the end of one quarter, and went into halftime behind 8-4. 

Andre paced the offense with thee scores while Nava scored one goal with two assists. Brayden Lauritzen, Michael Andrews, Scanlan, and Sweet also had single scores while Herman and and Cunningham each dished out two assists. Mariano kept Ventura in the game with 19 saves in the cage.

Ventura next travels to San Luis Obispo for the Cuesta Mini on Saturday Sept. 25.