The VC men's water polo team dropped a 14-11 decision at Cerritos College Friday. Evan Augusta totaled four goals, two assists and a pair of steals to lead the Pirate effort while Boaz Biglin scored three goals with three drawn exclusions.
The two teams traded goals to begin the game with Augusta and Biglin each scoring equalizers. The Falcons then took control of the game with three scores before the end of the first quarter.
Biglin found the inside of the cage at the 6:13 mark of the second period, and Owen Patterson scored on the next possession to close the deficit to 5-4. After a Cerritos goal, Wyatt Dingman and Thomas Shea scored to tie the game at 6-6 before Samuel Abarca knotted the score at 7-7 in the closing seconds of the half.
Augusta scored two more goals in the third period to keep VC close, the second coming at the 11:11 mark to close the game to 10-9. Cerritos scored another goal at the end of the third quarter, however, and netted three more scores in the fourth to put the game away.
Brayden Black grabbed three steals defensively for the Pirates (5-6, 1-0), while Ethan Ortiz and Stephen McNaughten totaled six and five saves, respectively, in the cage. Dingman added five field blocks, one assist and one steal to his statistics for the day while Shea grabbed three steals. Patterson drew four exclusions in the game for VC.
The Pirates return home on Wednesday Oct. 9 hosting Cuesta at 2:00 pm at the Ventura Aquatic Center.