The VC men's water polo team completed at the Día de los Muertos Tournament Saturday with wins over San Diego Miramar and Grossmont. The victories allowed VC to leave San Diego with a perfect 4-0 weekend and stretch their winning streak to five games. Owen Cugnoni scored another 10 goals in the two games while Michael Soho netted six scores. Stephen McNaughten recorded 14 saves in the cage on the day.
Ventura 20, San Diego Miramar 8
After the Jets scored the opening goal of the game, VC came back with scores by Thomas Vels, Soho and Kyle Wagner to hold a 3-1 lead after the first quarter.
The Pirates took full control in the second period following another Miramar goal. Five different Pirates scored in the final five minutes of the stanza as Ventura went into intermission ahead 8-2.
VC continued to outscore Miramar 6-3 in each of the final two periods to bring home the 20-8 victory.
Cugnoni scored four times in the final quarter to total six goals for the game with a pair of steals and one drawn exclusion. Soho totaled three goals while K. Wagner had a pair of scores with three assists and two steals. Cameron Habib and Sebastian Ayala each scored twice in the game while Matthew Ogonowski had one goal with three assists. Habib also added three steals defensively and McNaughten recorded nine saves in the cage.
Ventura 14, Grossmont 13
VC atoned for a loss to the Griffins on Sept. 21, holding on for the one-goal triumph in the tournament finale.
Soho, Vels and Sebastian Cornejo each scored in the opening minutes of the game as Ventura jumped the Griffins for the 3-0 advantage. After a pair of Grossmont goals, Cugnoni answered at the 2:36 mark of the opening period to make the score 4-2. The teams then traded scores as the Pirates led 6-4 after the first eight minutes of play.
The Griffins cut the margin to a single score early in the second period before Cugnoni and Scott Wagner stretched the lead back to three, 8-5. Ventura led Grossmont 10-8 at halftime after Cugnoni and S. Wagner combined again for two more goals before intermission.
The teams played even in the third quarter, and S. Wagner scored the eventual game-winner with 4:02 remaining in the game. The Pirates gave up a pair of late scores to make things interesting, but held on for the 14-13 win.
Cugnoni had four goals with a pair of steals in the game while S. Wagner also scored four times with two assists. Soho contributed three goals with a dime and two steals and Vels totaled two scores with two thefts. Cornejo also added two goals, three assists and two steals and McNaughten stopped five Griffin shots to the cage.
Ventura next opens the Western State Conference Tournament at home on Wednesday Nov. 1. No. 4-seeded VC will host No. 5-seed Santa Monica with the location and time to be announced.