Pirate Men Split Two at Golden West Tourney

The VC men's water polo team split a pair of games Friday at the Golden West Tournament in Huntington Beach. The Pirates (7-9, 1-2) dropped a decision against the hosts before edging Sierra by a single goal. Owen Patterson scored four goals with a pair of steals and four drawn exclusions on the day while Michael Soho scored three times with two steals. Evan Augusta also netted a pair of scores.

Ventura 4, Golden West 21

The Pirates could not match up with the state's No. 2-ranked Rustlers in the tournament opener.

Soho, Samuel Abarca, Patterson and Thomas Shea all scored single goals for Ventura in the game. Patterson added a steal and two drawn exclusions while Soho had one steal and one assist. Boaz Biglin grabbed three steals with two drawn exclusions and one assist. 

Ventura 11, Sierra 10

Ventura held on for the narrow victory over the Wolverines in the second game of the day. Patterson led the way with three goals and a pair of exclusions and Soho and Evan Augusta each scored twice.

Soho tied the game at 1-1 with a goal midway through the first quarter and Patterson's score at the 2:47 mark made it 2-2. The Pirates trailed Sierra 3-2 at the end of the period, and fell behind by another goal early in the second. Wyatt Dingman and Patterson netted consecutive scores for VC to knot the score at 4-4 before Sierra scored twice before halftime for a 6-4 advantage.

Soho's goal opened the third stanza and Augusta soon followed with another score for a 6-6 tie with 5:56 on the clock. Patterson and Shea each answered Sierra scores before the Wolverines led 9-8 at the end of three quarters.

Biglin sandwiched a pair of goals around a score from Augusta as the Pirates finally moved ahead 11-9 with less than a minute remaining in the game. Sierra scored a goal in the final seconds of play, but it was not enough as the Pirates held on for the win.

VC will conclude play in the Golden West Tournament on Saturday Oct. 26 with a pair of games hosted at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.