In a game that was tight throughout, freshman Tanner Islander slipped near the goal on the left side, received a pass from Justin Bouse and scored the game-winning goal with 30 seconds remaining in the game. The Pirates defeated visiting Santa Monica 8-7 in Western State Conference play at the Ventura Aquatic Center. Ryan Reardon led VC (7-11, 1-2) with three goals and two drawn exclusions while Kyle Goodrich had a pair of scores with two steals against the Corsairs.
Jarett Baldwin opened the scoring for Ventura in the first quarter with a helper from Cole Morter, and the Pirates led 2-1 at the quarter break. Goodrich's second goal of the first half opened the lead to 3-1, but SMC halved the deficit before intermission.
Reardon's first of two third quarter goals increased the Ventura advantage back to two goals, but Santa Monica scored three of the next four goals to tie the game at 5-5 after three quarters of play.
The game went back-and-forth in the final period, with Reardon scoring to put VC ahead 6-5 before Santa Monica scored twice to take a 7-6 lead at the 2:57 mark. Justin Bouse netted a score with an assist by Baldwin with 1:34 on the clock to tie the score, setting up Islander's heroics in the final minute.
Baldwin had one goal with an assist, two drawn exclusions and two steals while Roger Escalante handed out four assists. Islander netted the game winner with an assist and Justin Bouse also netted a score with a helper. Dalton Esrofani recorded six saves in the cage while Derek Gamberutti had four saves in goal.
The Pirates will next travel to the Cuesta Tournament on Friday and Saturday October 13 and 14.