The VC men's water polo team had a difficult day at the Central Coast Invitational Saturday in San Luis Obispo. The Pirates dropped their opener to Golden West 13-6 before falling to host Cuesta 12-5 in the nightcap. Andre Galvez scored four goals with three assists in the two games while Alexis Nava and Anthony Ibarra each recorded a pair of scores. Zane Herman had six assists on the day for Ventura (4-5).
Ventura 6, Golden West 13
The Pirates found the going tough against the Rustlers from the beginning. GWC opened up a 5-0 lead in the first period before Nava got VC on the board with a goal at the 1:22 mark of the quarter. Ibarra scored at the 5:46 mark of the second stanza to make it 7-2, but Ventura went on to trail 12-2 at halftime.
Nava led the offensive effort with a pair of goals and Andre netted a score with two assists. Herman dished out three helpers while Ibarra, Joseph Lowry and Christian Scanlan also found the inside of the cage for VC. Goalie Jaeger Gonzales, Ibarra and Nava each had two steals defensively.
Ventura 5, Cuesta 12
Game two of the day did not get much better for the Pirates. Andre and Nava each scored in the first quarter but the Pirates trailed the COugars 4-2 at the quarter break. Cuesta then netted five straight goals to pull away from VC.
Andre scored three goals with four steals and an assist. Herman scored once with three helpers and two thefts and Ibarra netted the other goal for Ventura. Scanlan grabbed two steals defensively as did Janson Cunningham. Jaeger had five saves in the cage.
The Pirates next travel to the Saddleback Invitational in Mission Viejo on Oct. 1 and 2.