Men's Polo Alive at Día de los Muertos Tournament

The VC men's water polo team came alive Friday at the Día de los Muertos Tournament in Chula Vista with a pair of victories. The Pirates held on to defeat Palomar in the first game of the day before coming back in the fourth quarter to beat host Southwestern, 21-18. Owen Cugnoni had a stellar day with 13 goals and four drawn exclusions while Scott Wagner found the inside of the cage seven times. Michael Soho added five goals in the two games.

Ventura 13, Palomar 12

Cugnoni scored three goals in the second quarter and added the eventual game-winner with 2:37 left to play in the game to help the Pirates to the opening victory.

The teams traded scores in the opening eight minutes of play with the Comets holding a 4-3 edge at the end of the quarter. 

Cugnoni netted three straight scores to put VC ahead 6-5 and Kyle Wagner scored with 1:09 remaining in the first half to send Ventura to intermission with the 7-6 lead.

Scott Wagner's score early in the third period put VC ahead 8-7, but Palomar answered with three straight goals to hold a 10-8 edge with 4:52 on the clock. The Pirates had an answer, however, as Cugnoni sandwiched a pair of goals around a score by S. Wagner, and Soho added another goal at the 1:15 mark as Ventura went into the final stanza ahead 12-10.

Both defenses took over for most of the fourth quarter before Cugnoni's goal with 2:37 remaining, VC's fifth unanswered, extended the lead to 13-10.  The Comets made a furious comeback, however, scoring twice in the final 1:02 of the game, but the Pirates were able to hold on for the narrow 13-12 victory.

Cugnoni's seven goals were key for the win, and S. Wagner added two scores with two assists. Soho also found the inside of the cage twice with a pair of dimes while K. Wagner and Shawn Coyner also added goals to th effort. Sebastian Cornejo handed out two assists while grabbing two steals and Ramon Rodriguez had one helper and one theft. Coyner recorded eight saves in goal with five steals to anchor the defense.

Ventura 21, Southwestern 18

The Pirates (8-12, 1-3) outscored the host Jaguars 5-2 in the final period to bring home the victory in the nightcap.

Southwestern led 7-6 after the first, fast-paced period. The teams maintained the effort in the second eight minutes with six goals each and VC trailed 13-12 at halftime. Ventura outscored SWC 4-3 in the third before the strong performance in the final stanza propelled the triumph.

Cugnoni had another solid outing with six goals and a pair of drawn exclusions and Scott Wagner scored five times, also with two drawn exclusions. Thomas Vels netted four scores with an assist and Soho converted three shots for points while handing out a pair of dimes. Cornejo recorded two goals and handed out three assists with a steal. Matthew Ogonowski scored once with two assists and Ryan Webb also had a pair of helpers. Coyner had five saves in the cage with three steals.

Ventura will close out the tournament in Chula Vista on Saturday Oct. 28 with games against San Diego Miramar and Grossmont.