VC Drops Game in OT before Win in Tourney Finale

The Pirates' women's water polo team dropped a tough Overtime decision Saturday before closing the Ventura Tournament with a victory. VC, ranked No. 8 in the state, fell to No. 10 Golden West 12-11 on a golden goal by the Rustlers before defeating Mt. San Antonio 10-5. Ella Montano had a solid day with seven goals, five drawn exclusions, three steals and two assists in the two games and Kelsee Espitia scored four times with three dimes, a pair of drawn exclusions and two thefts.

Ventura 11, Golden West 12 (OT)

The Pirates and Rustlers battled fo rthe entire 32 minutes, plus nearly six minutes of overtime in the Top-10 showdown.

Emily Baughn converted an assist from AnnMarie Patterson, and goalie Ahna Davis scored to close the first quarter as the teams were even, 2-2, after eight minutes of play.

Kendall Ribbers' goal with 6:09 remaining until halftime put VC ahead 3-2 and Montano cashed in Baughn's dime for a score and a 4-3 Pirate edge following a GWC score a minute later.  The Rustlers scored three quick goals inside 1:15 late in the period before Montano took an assist from Davis and scored with 1:02 on the clock for a 6-5 halftime deficit for Ventura.

After the teams traded goals early in the third, Espitia halved the deficit at the 1:06 mark. On the next possession Baughn found the inside of the cage off a Patterson pass and the teams were knotted at 8-8 headed to the final eight minutes of regulation time.

Espitia scored on a 5m shot with 4:17 on the clock to put the Pirates ahead before Golden West quickly answered. Baughn then hit Patterson on a breakaway at the 2:34 mark to give the Pirates the advantage once again, but GWC had another answer to send the game to overtime.

Despite overtime consisting of a pair of three-minute extra periods, the tension built from the very first sprint. The Rustlers drew first blood at the 2:04 mark of the first extra stanza, but Montano had the response with 49 seconds remaining, taking a pass from Patterson and hitting a strong shot from the left wing. The score was even at 11-11 for the OT switch.

In the second extra period, neither team was able to punch in a score, setting up sudden death overtime. Ventura had three great chances at the golden goal in the third extra period, but could not find the inside of the cage before Golden West finally scored to win the game as time wound down in the third overtime.

Montano totaled three goals with four drawn exclusions, three steals and an assist against GWC while Espitia also netted three scores with a pair of drawn exclusions. Baughn recorded a pair of goals and Ribbers drew four exclusions and scored once. Davis was very good in the cage with 18 saves to go along with two steals, one assist and one goal.

Ventura 10, Mt. San Antonio 5

In the tournament finale, VC (16-4, 2-0) easily bested the Mounties for their 13th win in their past 15 games.

Kendal Santos and Montano each scored in the opening minutes of play, and the pair reversed order for the third and fourth goals for Ventura as the Pirates took a 4-1 lead after the first quarter.

VC led 5-2 at halftime, and built the advantage to 9-3 after the third period.

Montano led the way against Mt. SAC with four goals and Santos netted three scores. Baughn scored once with a pair of assists and Espitia had one goal and dished out three dimes. Paige LeBaron had nine saves in goal with three steals and a helper.

The Pirates jump right back into the Western State Conference race on Wednesday Oct. 10, traveling to No. 1-ranked Santa Barbara. The first sprint is scheduled for 4:45 pm at Santa Barbara High School.