Hosting rival Oxnard College on Tuesday evening, the Ventura College women's soccer team (3-8-2, 2-1) collected its second straight shutout victory 3-0. Rae Ritchie netted a pair of goals for the Pirates while Megan Henderson had two assists. Goalie Amy Neidiffer picked up four saves in her second shutout win of the year.
Under the twilight sky and night lights at the VC Sportsplex the Pirates looked to build on the momentum of a dominant win in their previous outing. The VC attack got started early with a scoring opportunity on the Condors in the sixth minute of the match. Oxnard countered with their own scoring chance, which the Pirates defended and transitioned into a quick attack down the pitch resulting in a corner kick. The VC kept the pressure on with a 10th minute header missing just wide, and in the 12th minute a dazzling pass from Henderson set up Jennifer Orozco to find the back of the net and give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.
The two teams traded scoring opportunities over the next 20 minutes of play with the energy apparent and buzzing in the large Tuesday evening crowd. The Pirate offense continued to put the pressure on the Condors in the tense match while the defense turned away OC's offensive attack. Several VC scoring runs resulted in close calls before a miss off the goal post in the 43rd minute resulted in a close range rebound shot for Ritchie, who capitalized on the opporunity to drive the ball past the Condor goal keeper for a 2-0 Pirate led heading into halftime.
Coming back out with the lead and an opportunity to pick up their second conference win the Pirates were not satisfied. Early pressure resulted in a scoring chance for the VC and Ritchie was in the right position to capitalize. Receiving a pass from Henderson, Ritchine drove home another goal to put the Pirates up 3-0.
The Pirate defense took center stage late in the contest, staked to a 3-0 advantage with a Condor attack looking to fight their way back. The VC defense was solid, and goal keeper Neidiffer turned away any opportunities from OC to preserve the shutout.
The Pirates next face two crucial road contests in the Western State Conference race. They travel to Woodland Hills on Friday Oct. 16 to take on Los Angeles Pierce College in a 4:00 pm match followed by a trip to Santa Barbara City College on Tuesday Oct. 20. The Pirates and Vaqueros will kick off at 7:30 pm.