The Pirates' men's water polo team completed a successful weekend in Mission Viejo, winning a pair of games Saturday at the Saddleback Tournament to post a 4-2 record for the two-day trip. Ventura (8-7) defeated Southwestern and Modesto before falling to Grossmont in the tournament finale. Andre Galvez continued his stellar campaign with 18 goals, nine assists and five steals to lead the way and Jaeger Gonzales recorded 24 saves in the cage with six assists.
Ventura 19, Southwestern 9
The Pirates went on a 7-1 run beginning at the 1:05 mark of the first quarter to take control of the game against the Jaguars with Zane Herman scoring four times in the run. After holding a 15-7 halftime, lead, VC held Southwestern scoreless in the third period to seal the victory.
Andre was solid again with seven goals and six assists and Herman came in with three helpers along with his four scores. Anthony Ibarra also found the cage four times in the game while Brayden Lauritzen had a goal, two assists and a steal. Mariano Galvez had five saves in goal with three assists and two thefts and Gonzales turned back eight shots.
Ventura 13, Modesto 11
Alexis Nava scored once and Andre scored twice over a two minute period in the first period as the Pirates took a 5-2 lead with 2:13 remaining. After a Modesto goal to close the quarter, VC scored two more times to begin the second to take a four-goal advantage, making it stand up for the remainder of the game.
Andre paced the attack with eight goals and three steals and Lauritzen scored twice with a pair of helpers. Nava had one goal and two assists while Herman scored a goal with an assist and two thefts. Gonzales turned back four shots with two assists and Mariano had five saves in the cage.
Ventura 9, Grossmont 15
Playing their sixth game in two days, the Pirate ran out of gas in the fourth quarter against the Griffins. VC outscored Grossmont 4-3 in the third quarter and trailed 9-8 at the quarter break before falling in the final stanza.
Andre found the cage three times with three assists and three steals and Nava scored twice with a pair of helpers and a steal. Herman contributed a goal, one assist, one steal, one field block and one drawn ejection while Janson Cunningham had a goal with three blocks. Gonzales had 12 saves in goal with three assists.
Ventura next plays one of its two remaining home games on Wednesday Oct. 6, hosting Citrus at 2:00 pm at the Ventura Aquatic Center.