The Ventura College women's water polo team had a strong effort Wednesday afternoon at Santa Barbara City College in the Western State Conference opener for both teams. The Pirates jumped out to a 4-0 lead, and had an 8-6 halftime advantage before ultimately falling 15-12. Kelsey Golden scored seven goals with three steals in the game to lead the Pirates (2-7, 0-1) and Kayla Wallace scored twice with four thefts.
The Pirates scored the first four goals of the game with a score from Sara McGuire, two goals by Wallace, then a score from Golden. Santa Barbara finally got on the board four minutes into the first quarter, and VC led at the end of the period, 5-2. Golden had two more goals in the second quarter, as did Katie Heath and Ventrua led the Vaqueros 8-6 at intermission.
In the second half, Santa Barbara made a run, but the score was still tied 10-10 with 2:09 left in the third period before SBCC took the lead for good.
McGuire scored two goals with two assists while Heath found the net once with two helpers, two drawn exclusions and two steals. Sabrina Cherfane and Katia Flores also handed out two assists each. Haley Hall recorded seven saves in the cage for the Pirates.
Ventura will next open its home schedule on Saturday Sept. 23 with its annual alumnae game. The Pirates and Pirate Alumnae will face off beginning at 11:00 am at the Ventura Aquatic Center.