Andre Galvez scored a goal with eight seconds remaining in the game as the VC men's water polo team edged Los Angeles Valley 11-10 in the semifinals of the Western State Conference Tournament Friday at Citrus College. The late score completed a pair of mini-comebacks by the Pirates as they trailed twice by one goal late in the fourth quarter. Galvez scored five goals in the game and Jaeger Gonzales turned back 11 shots in the cage for Ventura, who advances to Saturday's WSC Championship Game against Cuesta.
VC took the early 1-0 lead on Janson Cunningham's goal with 5:31 left in the opening quarter. Galvez then scored two more times before the end of the period and Ventura led 3-1 at the quarter break.
The Monarchs came back to tie the score two minutes into the second stanza before Christian Scanlan found the inside of the cage to put the Pirates back on top. LAVC put together back-to back scores for their first lead of the game, 5-4, and Scanlan scored again at the 2:52 mark to make it a 5-5 game at halftime.
Zane Herman scored two minutes into the third period, and after a Monarch goal, Galvez scored twice to make it 8-6 for Ventura headed to the final eight minutes.
LA Valley's defense dug in holding the Pirates scoreless over the next six minutes as they score three times to take a 9-8 advantage with 2:06 remaining to play. Cunningham got VC untracked with a goal at the 1:44 mark but LAVC answered on the next possession for a 10-9 margin. Benjamin Sweet netted a score with 40 seconds on the clock to tie the game, and after a defensive stop, Galvez hit the game-winner with eight seconds left.
Scanlan finished with two goals and three assists while Cunningham scored twice with an assist, one steal and a field block. Herman had two helpers to go along with his one goal and Gonzales added an assist and two steals to his work in the cage.
the Pirates advance to the WSC Championship Game on Saturday Nov. 6. They will take on top-seeded Cuesta at 1:30 pm at Citrus College in Glendora.