Soccer Runs Away From Oxnard

Jennifer Orozco had her second hat trick of the season and Janelle Garcia had two goals with two assists as the Pirate soccer team ran away from host Oxnard College 7-1 Tuesday afternoon.  Fresh off a big week in which the Pirates stayed atop the Western State Conference North Division standings with four points against Santa Barbara and Moorpark, they turned a 1-1 tie midway through the first half into a runaway win over the Condors to finish the first round of conference play unbeaten.

The Pirates (10-4-1, 4-0-1) got on the board first when Megan Henderson assisted a goal by Orozco in the fifth minute.  Oxnard netted an equalizer in the 19th minute.

Michelle Rios scored the go ahead goal in the 25th minute of play, assisted by Valeria Ramirez, and Orozco netted her second score of the half in the 37th, assisted by Rios as Ventura took a 3-1 advantage into halftime.

Henderson added to the Pirate advantage 10 minutes into the second half with an assist by Janelle, and Orozco made it a hat trick in the 62nd minute with a helper from Janelle.

Janelle, who has scored 14 goals in the Pirates' last nine outings, got into the act in the 72nd minute with an assist by Maya Antunez.  Finally, Janelle finished off the scoring seven minutes later with an assist by Henderson to set the final margin.

VC outshot the Condors 24-5, and had 19 shots on goal compared to four by OC.  Goalkeeper Marissa Dominguez had a pair of saves for the Pirates.

Ventura remains tied with Moorpark on top of the WSC North table with 13 points through one round of play.  Meanwhile, with a a loss at Moorpark Tuesday, Santa Barbara is third with nine points.

The Pirates begin the second round of play on Friday Oct. 28 with a home match against Cuesta College.  Kickoff is set for 6:00 pm at the VC Sportsplex.