The Pirates' men's water polo team dropped a pair of matches Friday on the first day of the Cuesta Tournament in San Luis Obispo. VC fell to Golden West 21-10 before narrowly dropping the nightcap to American River, 12-9. Daniel Amorim led the Pirates (1-4) with seven goals on the day while Dominic Tassano netted six.
Ventura 10, Golden West 21
A two-and-a-half hour van ride for a 9:00 am contest took its toll on the Pirates early, as the Rsutlers jumped out to a big advantage in the first quarter. Ventura settled down to play a solid second period, and was able to battle with one of the state's best teams the rest of the way. Tassano led the offense with four goals while Amorim netted a pair. Trevor Edwards, Alejandro Astudillo, Mitchell Ongstad and Michael Barbosa also found the back of the net for Ventura.
Ventura 9, American River, 12
The Pirates posted a two-goal advantage early but the Beavers came back and held a two-goal lead at halftime. Amorim and Ongstad each scored early in the third quarter to pull Ventura to within a single goal, but some untimely exclusions and solid finishes at the goal by ARC sealed the Pirates' fate. Amorim netted five scores and Tassano scored two times. Ongstad and Barbosa also scored goals while J'son Ruiz registered seven saves in goal.
Ventura will take on Riverside and LA Valley to conclude the tournament on Saturday Sept. 20 before hosting the VC Alumni teamo n Saturday Sept. 27 at 10:00 am at the Ventura Aquatic Center.