VC Polo Drops Pair at Golden West Mini

The Ventura College men's water polo team opened the 2014 campaign dropping a pair of matches at the Golden West College Mini Tournament Friday in Huntington Beach. VC lost to Palomar 17-12 in the opener before falling 22-11 to highly-ranked Riverside. Dominic Tassano scored eight goals in the two matches for Ventura (0-2) while J'son Ruiz anchored the defense with 17 saves in goal.

Ventura 13, Palomar 17
The Comets raced to an early 10-2 lead in the first half before the Pirates settled in and battled back. Ventura outscored their popponents 11-7 in the final two quarters, but could get no closer than four goals. Tassano found the back of the net five times and Daniel Amorim scored three goals for VC. Trevor Edwards and Alejandro Astudillo each scored a pair of gaols and Mitchell Ongstad scored once. Ruiz turned back 10 Palomar shots.

Ventura 11, Riverside 22
The Tigers were too much for Ventura in the early going, building a commanding lead. The Pirates were able to trade goals with RCC through the second half, but the damage had been done. Tassano and Amorin each scored three times while Edwards and Astudillo each netted two goals. Renan Mendez scored once for the Pirates and Ruiz had seven saves in goal.

Ventura hosts Chaffey College at 11:00 am Saturday Sept. 13 before heading to the Cuesta Tournament Sept. 19 and 20 in San Luis Obispo.