Women's Polo Opens 2021 Season With Two Victories

Playing for the first time in 665 days, the Pirates' women's water polo team returned to the pool with a pair of victories at the Saddleback Mini Tournament in Mission Viejo Friday. VC defeated the host bobcats in a runaway 17-7 before prevailing in a tough, physical contest against Palomar, 15-6. Megan Findlay netted nine goals with three assists on the day while Lauren Mora scored seven times with a pair of assists and four steals. Katie Falls recorded 18 saves in the cage in the two games.

Ventura 17, Saddleback 7

Findlay and Fiona Watkins each scored twice early in the first period as VC raced out to a 5-0 lead. The Pirates led 8-1 at the quarter break, and augmented the advantage to 13-2 at halftime. The Pirate lead moved to 17-3 after three periods before the Bobcats closed to within 17-7 at the final buzzer.

Watkins and Kiran Shah led the balanced offensive attack with four goals each while Findlay totaled three scores in the game. Mora and Natalia Rodriguez each found the inside of the cage twice. Sierra Cameron scored once, handed out six assists and drew a pair of ejections while totaling three steals on the defensive end of the pool. Mora and Shah also had two steals each and Katie Falls had five saves in goal.

Ventura 15, Palomar 6

In the second game of the day, VC faced a difficult physical match-up that was much closer than the final score would indicate. The Pirates fell behind 3-0 in the game's first three minutes before a pair of gaols from Mora and a score by Findlay evened the count at the end of the opening period. 

Findlay sandwiched a pair of goals around a score by Watkins to push the Pirates ahead 6-3 with 3:36 remaining in the second quarter. Shah, Cameron and Watkins then found the net in the final minutes of the stanza to lead Ventura to a 10-4 halftime advantage.

The physical play continued in the final 16 minutes, but the Pirates were not threatened by the Comets down the stretch. VC  expanded their margin to a final score of 15-6.

Findlay had six goals with a pair of assists while Mora provided five scores, two assists and two steals. Shah was limited to one goal in the nightcap, but she handed out four assists and had four steals, and Watkins had a score with three assists and six steals. Stephany Dijar scored once with two assists and three thefts in the win while Falls turned back 13 Palomar shots in goal.

Ventura next hosts its home opener on Thursday Sept. 9 against Cerritos College.  The game is scheduled to begin at 2:00 pm at the Ventura Aquatic Center.