The Ventura College men's water polo team won two of three games Saturday in Costa Mesa at the Orange Coast Mini Tournament. VC dropped the opener to the hosts 18-6 before defeating No. 7-ranked Grossmont 8-6 and running away from Palomar 15-2. Andre Galvez and Zane Herman each scored five goals in the three games to lead the offense and Mariano Galvez was key in the cage with 43 saves over the three games.
Ventura 6, Orange Coast 18
The Pirates of the North dropped the first contest of the day to the Pirates of the South, who entered the day ranked No. 6 in the state.
Ventura fell behind 2-0 early before goals from Herman and Andre tied the score with 3:26 left in the first quarter. OCC scored in the final minute of the period to hold a 3-2 lead at the quarter break.
Orange Coast then dominated the second period, scoring seven goals to hold a 10-2 halftime advantage.
Ventura could get no closer the rest of the way as the Pirates of the South posted the win.
Herman finished with two goals, two assists, a steal and one drawn ejection and Galvez scored twice as well. Anthony Ibarra netted a score with three steals and Alexis Nava also scored for Ventura. Mariano had seven saves and five steals in goal.
Ventura 8, Grossmont 6
In a big turnaround for the Pirates, they defeated No. 7-ranked Grossmont in the second game of the day after suffering a pair of losses to the Griffins earlier in the year.
After Grossmont scored the first goal of the game, VC countered with scores by Ibarra and Nava to hold a 2-1 lead at the quarter break.
The teams traded goals in the second period with the Griffins pulling even at 2, 3 and 4 around a pair of VC goals by Herman.
Janson Cunningham scored twice after halftime to help Ventura open up a two-goal margin, and following a Griffin score, Andre and Cunningham scored two more times for an 8-5 Pirate lead headed to the fourth.
VC was shut out in the final eight minutes, but the Pirate defense held fast, limiting Grossmont to just two scores in the period to preserve the 8-7 victory.
Mariano anchored a great defensive effort with 18 saves in the cage to go along with two assists and a steal. Cunningham led the offense with three goals and Herman scored twice. Andre had one goal with three steals while Ibarra and Nava also found the inside of the cage one time each.
Ventura 15, Palomar 2
The Pirates ended the day with a huge win over the Comets.
VC scored six goals in the opening period, all by different players, to open a 6-0 lead at the quarter break, and they extended it into the second period with another score before Palomar got on the board. Ventura led 10-1 at halftime and held a 13-1 lead at the end of three quarters.
Joseph Lowry led the balanced attack against Palomar with three goals, three steals and an assist. Andre, Nava, Brayden Lauritzen and Christian Scanlan all scored twice. Benjamin Sweet scored once with three assists while Ibarra, Cunningham and Herman also recorded goals in the game. Mariano had 18 saves in goal.
Ventura will take a week off to prepare for the upcoming Western State Conference Tournament which begins Friday Nov. 5 at Citrus College in Glendora.