Pirates Dominate Early and Late in 5-1 Win

Abigail Littleton netted a pair of goals as the Pirates' women's soccer team dominated early and late in their 5-1 victory over Evergreen valley College in the finale of the Nike Soccer Community College Classic at the Sportsplex Saturday afternoon.  Sabrina Lopez, Adrina Palacios and Miranda Campos all found the back of the net for Ventura (2-0-0) and Sofia Chandler handed out two assists.

Littleton scored her first goal in the 13th minute, unassisted on a breakaway.  Lopez narrowly missed on a run of her own a minute later, and then converted a feed from Chandler to put the Pirates ahead 2-0 halfway through the first period.    The Pirates and Hawks settled in after that, but the Ventura did manage some solid scoring chances.  Michelle Rios slotted a shot just wide in the 40th minute and VC held on to the two goal lead at intermission.

Evergreen Valley came out with more intensity to begin the second half and closed to within a single score with a goal in the 51st minute of play.  Palacios had a strong run at the goal in the 65th minute with a wide right result before Littleton nicely headed a corner kick by Merissa Campos to the back post in the 70th.  Palacios broke the game open three minutes later, nailing a free kick from 25 yards out to make the score 4-1.  Miranda Campos added the cherry on top in the 88th minute, converting a score from Chandler's second helper of the afternoon.

Paola Cano turned in another strong performance on VC's back line and goalie Katelyn White registered four saves in going the distance.

The Pirates will travel to Citrus College on Wednesday Sept. 3 before hosting Bakersfield on Friday Sept. 5 at 6:00 pm at the Sportsplex.