Ventura Splits Final Day at Battle at the Beach

The VC women's water polo team split its final two games at the Battle at the Beach Tournament Saturday at Cerritos. The No. 9-ranked Pirates fell to No. 3 Fullerton 18-10 in the morning before defeating the No. 10-ranked hosts 15-14 in a game that came down to the final possession. Fiona Watkins led VC (18-5, 4-1) with nine goals in the two contests while Katie Falls anchored the defense in goal with 16 saves, six steals and three assists.

Ventura 10, Fullerton 18

For the second time this season, the Pirates dropped a decision to the highly-ranked Hornets. 

After falling behind 2-0 and 3-1 in the first four minutes of play, Ventura came back with goals by Anna Lowe, Watkins and Lauren Mora to tie the score at 4-4 with 6:36 remaining in the first half. The teams then traded goals with Watkins and Megan Findlay providing equalizers for a 7-7 game at halftime.

Fullerton took control with three straight goals to start the third period before Watkins netted a score at the 4:10 mark of the quarter to pull VC to within 10-8. The Hornets then scored seven goals over the next six minutes of game time to put the game away.

Watkins totaled five goals, two assists and three steals and Findlay scored three with a pair of helpers. Mora and Lowe each found the cage one time while Kiran Shah drew three ejections. Isabel Tenison had two steals and a drawn ejection. Falls had seven saves in goal with three steals.

Ventura 15, Cerritos 14

After a double-overtime loss to the Cerritos in Ventura on Sept. 9, the Pirates were looking to settle the score in the Falcons' home pool.  The game certainly did not disappoint with six ties and three lead changes over the 32 minutes of play, with the outcome in doubt until the final play of the game.

The Falcons took the early lead in a back-and-forth first quarter before Mora tied the score at 1-1. Lowe provided the equalizer at 2-2 and Findlay scored at the 4:58 mark to put Ventura ahead 3-2. Cerritos came back with three of the next four scores to stretch the lead to 6-4 before Watkins scored with three seconds remaining in the period for a 6-5 margin at the quarter break.

Things slowed down in the second quarter, but the game remained close. The teams traded scores once again, but the Falcons remained in the lead until Mora and Lowe netted consecutive goals to tie the score at 8-8. The defenses took over for the final 3:28 of the period as neither team found the inside of the cage over that span.

Ventura took a little control in the third quarter as Lowe's goal at the 6:47 mark put the Pirates ahead.  After Cerritos tied the game, Lowe gave the Pirates the lead for good, and Mora followed that up with a score with 3:07 left in the stanza for an 11-9 VC edge. Ventura led 12-11 heading to the final quarter.

The Pirates took control with a 3-0 run over the first 3:42 of the fourth period with a goal from Lowe and two scores by Watkins.  Ventura then withstood a furious charge from the Falcons who closed to within 15-14 at the 1:26 mark. VC held off Cerritos on the final play of the game to preserve the victory.

Lowe led the charge with five goals and two assists while Watkins and Mora each scored four times in the game, each with three assists. Watkins also pulled in five steals and Mora had three thefts. Falls totaled nine saves in the cage with three steals and three assists.

Ventura will take a few days to rest before they prepare for the final charge of the season. They will begin play in the Western State Conference Tournament as the No. 2 seed on Friday Nov. 5 at Citrus College in Glendora.