The Ventura College men's water polo team were defeated by host Cuesta College 14-7 in the 3rd Place game at the Western State Tournament Saturday in San Luis Obispo. Kyle Goodrich scored three goals with a pair of assists to lead the Pirates, who finish the season in fourth place in the conference despite tying for the top spot in the regular-season.
No. 4-seed LA Valley, who Ventura defeated earlier in the season, defeated No. 3 Citrus in the championship game. Citrus, Cuesta and Ventura all tied atop the conference standings in the regular season.
The Pirates (20-14, 3-3) never got untracked, falling behind 4-1 after the first eight minutes of play. They trailed 7-3 at halftime and were never able to make a charge against the Cougars.
Coby Wiegman had a goal with three steals while CJ Daland, Clint Howard and Mitch Caldwell all had single goals for VC.
The Pirates finish the season with a 20-14 record, a six game improvement in wins from a year ago under second-year head coach Mike Giles. It was VC's first 20-win campaign since the team was 20-12 in 2006.