VC sophomore Kelsey Golden scored twice in the fourth quarter propelling the No. 5-seeded Pirates to a 9-7 victory over No. 4 Allan Hancock College Wednesday in the first round of the Western State Conference Tournament in Santa Maria. Sabrina Cherfane led Ventura (14-14, 3-4) with four goals and Golden finished with three as the Pirates advance to Friday's WSC semifinal against No. 1 Santa Barbara at Citrus College in Glendora.
The Pirates quickly fell behind 2-0 to the Bulldogs. Goals from Sara McGuire and Kayla Wallace kept Ventura within 4-2 at the end of the first quarter. Cherfane scored three times in the second period to help tie the score at 5-5 before a late AHC goal made it 6-5 at halftime.
Golden did her part in the third period, tying the score with a goal with 3:41 left in the quarter. The score remained tied at the quarter break before Cherfane gave the Pirates a 7-6 lead with 6:46 left in the game. Hancock managed to tie the score at 7-7 before golden took over, scoring the final two goals of the game for the 9-7 Ventura victory.
Cherfane had five steals and an assist to go with her four goals while Golden added a helper and a theft to her three scores. Wallace had four steals and a single score while McGuire had one goal and two assists. Haley Hall had six saves in goal for the Pirates.
Ventura advances to the WSC semifinals on Friday Nov. 3 at Citrus College in Glendora. They will face off against Santa Barbara in a rematch of last year's WSC final at 2:45 pm.