After going nearly seven years without a scoreless draw, the Pirates' women's soccer team has now done it twice inside of a month. Ventura battled conference-leading Santa Barbara to a scoreless draw Friday night at the VC Sportsplex. Pirate goalie Katelyn White had six saves in preserving the draw.
Ventura (6-2-4, 2-0-3) had their chances in the contest, but were unable to find the back of the net. They put six shots on goal, but it may have been a chance taken away that could have been the game-winner. Midway through the second half, Karen Medina appeared to deflect an attempted clear by the Vaqueros, 25 yards out ffrom the goal. Medina gained control of the ball and appeared to have a 1-on-1 with the SBCC keeper, but the referee called a hand-ball on Medina's steal, ending the chance.
Sabrina Lopez had a solid shot from the left side in stoppage time late, but iit was gathered in by the Vaquero goalie. Adrina Palacios also had a solid night at the front of the Pirate attack, but could not squeeze in a score.
Defensively, White was nails in the goal. She produced several key stops, including one off of a Santa Barbara corner kick on the final play of the game in stoppage time. Paola Cano and Sabrina Ayala Rocha also played steady defense for VC.
The Pirates are locked in a tight race at the top of the Western State Conference North Division with Santa Barbara and Pierce College. The Vaqueros have 12 points (3-0-3) in first and LAPC has 11 (3-0-2). Ventura is a close third with nine points (2-0-3).
Ventura completes the first round of conference play Tuesday Oct. 21 at Allan Hancock College. Kickoff in Santa Maria is scheduled for 4:00 pm.