The VC women's soccer team bounced back from their first defeat in 11 games last week with a 2-0 shutout victory over Oxnard at the Sportsplex Tuesday evening. Lex Sahagian and Yaraby Herrera each netted scored for the Pirates (11-2-3, 5-1) and Sibella Donnelly recorded the shutout in goal.
Ventura was dominant throughout the first half,controlling the action in their offensive third of the pitch. Herrera had nice shots in the sixth and ninth minutes of play, the latter the first of multiple Pirate shots to hit the crossbar. Sahagian and Herrera got more shots off in the 16th minute and Melanie Torres had a shot on goal in the 20th.
VC finally broke through in the 23rd minute when M. Torres hit a rocket from 20 yards out that bounced off the Condors' goal keeper. Sahagian was in the right place at the right time to finish off the rebound for a 1-0 VC lead.
The Pirates kept up the pressure, but were a bit unlucky withe the ball flying off their feet. Daisy Vaca had a shot sail high in the 28th minute and Leslie Torres followed with another sailing shot. Vaca missed high from 25 yards out in the 34th minute and L. Torres hit a nice cross in the 37th that just missed a connection in the box. Jessica Aguilar missed a shot wide in the 43rd minute and Ventura went into halftime ahead 1-0.
Early in the second half Vaca had another shot blocked by the OC keeper and Samantha Quinonez missed the rebound shot high. Vaca had another solid scoring chance in the 51st minute and M. Torres misfired a rocket from 25 yards out six minutes later. Desire Lopez and Sahagian continued the offensive onslaught for VC, neither finding the back of the net, however.
In the 67th minute, Jazzy Moreno hit a through ball that sent Herrera on a breakaway, the Pirate freshman settled her attack and slotted a shot inside the left post for the 2-0 margin.
The Pirates went more into a defensive mode in the final 20 minutes of play, still playing strongly in the midfield to hold Oxnard at bay throughout the contest.
VC's offense generated 25 shots overall with 25 shots, 12 on goal, while OC managed just three shots, two of which were saved by Donnelly.
Ventura begins the second round of Western State Conference play on Friday Oct. 25 at Moorpark. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 pm.