The Pirates' men's water polo team got off to a slow start and never recovered in their Western State Conference semifinal match up with Citrus Friday afternoon in San Luis Obispo. The Pirates trailed 4-0 in the opening period and were defeated by the Owls 17-11. CJ Daland had four goals and an assist to lead VC (20-13, 3-2) and Kyle Goodrich netted three scores with a pair of assists.
VC trailed 4-0 barely four minutes into the contest, and faced a 6-2 deficit at the end of the first quarter. Things did not improve in the second period as the Owls opened up a 10-5 lead at halftime. The Pirates could not make any headway in the second half, as well, in falling to defeat.
Coby Wiegman, Micah Peterson, Clint Howard and Jack Pickett all scored one goal for VC. The Pirate defense, which had been solid all year, could only muster three steals in the game.
The Pirates will play for third place in the tournament Saturday at 12:15pm agianst host Cuesta, who was upset by Los Angeles Valley in the other semifinal Friday.