WOMEN'S WATER POLO: It was a tale of two halves Wednesday at he Ventura Aquatic Center, as the VC women's water polo team fell behind early, made a furious second half comeback to tie the score late, only to fall in the final minutes to Los Angeles Pierce College 10-9. Lauren McCaslin scored three goals with three steals while Ashley Runyon had a pair of scores, six assists and two steals. Cecily Loya also registered a pair of goals and Molly Watkins had 12 saves in goal for the Pirates (5-5-1).
Ventura fell behind early, trailing 4-2 at the end of the first quarter and 8-4 at halftime. The Brahmas scored the first goal of the third quarter, opening up a five-goal cushion before the Pirates began their comeback. Watkins turned back three Pierce shots before McCaslin and Loya each netted goals to close the score to 9-6 at the end of the third quarter.
Runyon scored early in the fourth quarter to close the gap to two goals, and Jerilyn Hollis brought the Pirates to with 9-8 with 5:30 remaining in the contest. Runyon created the game-tying goal with a steal and lead pass to Loya, who converted the fast break with 2:42 remaining in the game, but Pierce was finally able to answer with a lob shot into the net a minute later. Ventura's final attempt to tie in the closing seconds sailed just over the crossbar, setting the final margin at 10-9 for Pierce.
Ventura will be at home next weekend, October 11-12, hosting the annual Ventura Tournament. On Friday Oct. 11 VC will play Cypress at 10:00 am and Chaffey at 5:00 pm. On Saturday, the Pirates host El Camino at 9:40 am and will take on Fullerton at 3:30pm in the tournament finale. There will be 14 games over the two days featuring seven teams.