The Ventura College men's water polo team defeated Citrus 17-8 Wednesday to secure the No. 3 seed in next week's Western State Conference Tournament, hosted by the Pirates. Owen Patterson scored five goals and drew three exclusions to lead VC (10-9, 2-2) and Brayden Black netted four scores. Thomas Shea and Evan Augusta each scored twice in the game while Ethan Ortiz and Stephen McNaughten recorded seven and five saves in goal, respectively.
The Pirates jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first quarter on goals by Patterson, Augusta, Shea and Samuel Abarca. Patterson then sandwiched a pair of goals around a score by Black late in the second as Ventura opened up a 9-3 advantage at intermission.
Black netted two goals early in the third period, and Boaz Biglin and Patterson also scored to put the game out of reach early, 13-3. Wyatt Dingman and Jessie Zepeda also found the inside of the cage to extend the lead to an even dozen, 15-3.
The Pirates will travel to Chula Vista for the Dia de los Muertos Tournament at Southwestern College on Friday and Saturday Nov. 1 and 2 before beginning the WSC Tournament next week. The Pirates will likely be the No. 3 seed at play LA Valley in the conference semifinal on Friday Nov. 8 at the Ventura Aquatic Center.