The Pirates men's water polo team dropped a pair of games Friday in San Luis Obispo at the Cuesta Tournament. VC fell in the opener to the hosts in a Western State Conference game 14-8 before dropping the nightcap 10-7 to Modesto. Andre Galvez scored six goals with two assists, three steals and six drawn ejections and Zane Herman scored five times with three assists and two steals. Jaeger Gonzales had 27 saves in goal over the two games.
Ventura 8, Cuesta 14
The Pirates jumped on the Cougars early but could not make it last as they dropped the opener in a WSC contest.
Anthony Ibarra scored in the opening minute and Herman and Galvez found the cage for a 3-1 VC advantage at the 3:41 mark of the opening period.
It was all Cuesta from that point, however, as the hosts reeled off five unanswered goals to take a 6-3 lead into halftime.
Herman scored again with 6:20 left in the third quarter to bring Ventura to within 6-4, but it would get no closer. The Cougars netted the next four scores and led 11-6 headed to the final stanza.
Herman finished with four goals while Galvez had three scores, two assists, a steal and four drawn ejections. Alexis Nava handed out a pair of assists with a steal and Janson Cunningham grabbed two thefts. Gonzales had 12 saves in the cage.
Ventura 7, Modesto 10
It a tightly contested defensive battle that featured six ties and three lead changes, Ventura dropped the nightcap to the Modesto Pirates 10-7.
Herman and Galvez scored goals in the first period as VC and Modesto were tied at two at the quarter break. Galvez scored another goal at the 5:36 mark f the second to put Ventura ahead 3-2 before the Pirates of the North scored twice to take the lead. Ibarra leveled the score with his goal with 2:05 on the clock, but Modesto scored twice before intermission to take a 6-4 advantage.
Galvez and Nava both found the cage early in the third period to knot the score again at 6-6, and Brayden Lauritzen's goal with 3:25 left in the period put VC ahead. It was all Modesto from that point, however, as they scored twice in the final 1:04 of the stanza, and added two more scores in the final period for the final 10-7 margin.
Galvez had three goals, two steals and two drawn ejections for the Pirates and Herman scored once with three assists and a pair of steals. Nava found the cage once with three thefts on defense and Benjamin Sweet also scored one goal. Gonzales kept the Pirates close with 15 saves in goal.
Ventura closes the Cuesta Tournament with two more games on Saturday Oct. 16 before hosting Los Angeles Valley on Tuesday Oct. 19.