The Ventura College women's soccer team (7-5) remains unranked. But the Pirates knocked off Fresno, ranked No. 4 in Northern California and No. 8 in the state, 1-0 Saturday on Daisy Cardona's goal.

Cardona, an All-American selection as a freshman, leads the WSC in both goals (10) and points (27).

Ventura's five losses are to No. 1 Cerritos, No. 2 Santiago Canyon, No. 3 Cypress, No. 6 Los Angeles Pierce and No. 8 Canyons, who are a combined 41-2-4.

Behind conference championships in twice as many sports as any other conference school, Ventura College has won the Western State Conference Supremacy Award yet again.

Ventura won 2011-12 WSC titles in eight different sports -- women's basketball, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, and water polo, as well as men's swimming and tennis.

"We're very proud of the diligence of our student-athletes, coaches and staff, which produced such success on and off the playing field," said Ventura athletic director Will Cowen, "despite the strenuous fiscal climate."

Twelve of Ventura's 18 programs achieved a cumulative 3.0 grade point average. Several of its programs combined to raise more than $10,000 for local anti-cancer charities. Ventura was forced to make $125,000 in budget cuts for the 2011-12 school year.

The Pirates have won the award, which measures school's combined competitive prowess, for 14 straight seasons and 19 overall, both WSC records.

Ventura earned 116.0 points from 18 sports, topping Canyons (89.0), Santa Barbara City (81.0) and Cuesta (77.5). Moorpark finished seventh with 58.0 points. Oxnard finished 14th with 19.0 points.

On a statewide level, Ventura finished sixth in the National Alliance of Two-Year College Athletic Administrators (NATYCAA) Cup for the 2011-12 academic year.

Fresno City College took the statewide and national award, which measures how an athletic department achieves in regional and state competition.

"We're not there yet," said Cowen, "but we're approaching elite status as an intercollegiate athletic department on both the state and national levels."

Ventura won its first state championship in women's tennis in 2011-12, when women's swimming (third), women's basketball (tied for third) and men's swimming (fourth) also had impressive seasons.

Among CCCAA schools, Fresno was followed by Mount San Antonio, Orange Coast, Santa Rosa, Riverside and Ventura.

Just two months after Oxnard College decided to suspend its basketball programs, a Condor led his team to the state championship.

Ed Madec, the Rio Mesa High and Oxnard College product, coached the Fresno City men's basketball team to the state title for the second time in five years.

The Rams beat Yuba 77-62 in the state final Sunday at Consumnes River in Sacramento.
Mount San Antonio beat Foothill, 68-58, in the women's final. Ventura College sophomore Rebecca Griffin, who scored a game-high 14 points in the Pirates' semifinal loss, was named to the all-tournament team.

Print coverage: Ventura County Star, Palm Desert Patch, Daily Breeze, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Chico Enterprise-Record, Napa Valley Register

November 19

Southern California Football Association

Semifinals

National Bowl
No. 6-South El Camino (8-2) at No. 1t-S Mt. San Antonio (9-1), 1 p.m.

Southern California Football Association Bowl
No. 4-S Cerritos College (7-3) at No. 3-S Palomar (7-3), 5 p.m.

Division championship games

Central Championship Bowl
No. 8-S Golden West (6-4) vs. No. 18-S Long Beach City (5-5) at Orange Coast College, 6 p.m.

American Championship Bowl
No. 16-S East Los Angeles (7-3) at No. 15-S Santa Monica (8-2), 1 p.m.

Bowls

Beach Bowl, sponsored by Joe Kapp Real Estate
No. 10-S College of the Desert (6-4) at No. 7-S Ventura (6-4), 6:30 p.m.

Golden State Bowl
No. 5-S Saddleback (8-2) at No. 1t-S Riverside (10-0), 6 p.m.

Western State Bowl
No. 11-S Los Angeles Harbor (7-3) at No. 8-S Hancock (6-4), 4 p.m.

Northern California Football Association

Bowls

Bothman Bulldog Bowl
No. 8-North Diablo Valley College (8-2) at No. 7-North College of San Mateo (7-3), 1 p.m.

Capital City Bowl
No. 5-N Chabot (9-1) at No. 3-N American River (10-0), 1 p.m.

Graffiti Bowl
No. 4-N Butte (9-1) at No. 6-N Modesto JC (8-2) , 1 p.m.

Living Breath Foundation Bowl
No. 14-N Solano (6-4) vs. No. 11-N Hartnell (7-3) at Cabrillo College, 1 p.m.

Sierra Central Credit Union Bowl
No. 12-N Monterey Peninsula (7-3) at No. 14-N Yuba (6-4), 1 p.m.

Togo's Delta Bowl
No. 10-N De Anza (7-3) at No. 9-N San Joaquin Delta (6-4) , 1 p.m.

November 26:

Regional championship games

Northern California Football Association Championship at Hawaiian Punch Bowl
No. 2-N Fresno City (10-0) at No. 1-N City College of San Francisco (10-0)

Southern California Football Association Championship at TBD

December 10:

California Community College Athletic Association Football State Championship at TBD

Two of the Top 5 teams in the state will meet this afternoon when the Ventura College women's soccer team (11-2-2) visits host Fresno City (11-2-2) at 4 p.m.

The trip up Route 99 will be a homecoming for the lone Pirates' player from outside Ventura County.

Freshman striker Victoria Burnell had one of the more astounding careers in state history at Liberty High in Madera, scoring 211 goals in her four-year career, the third-highest total in state history.

"In the beginning, it was a little difficult, because I didn't really know anybody," said Burnell of her Ventura experience. "But it's been really fun. It's been a great experience for me. It's so exciting to play with all these great players."

Burnell, who scored an incredible 61 goals as a senior last winter, scoring four or more times in eight games, was also Liberty's Homecoming queen.

She made the trip north Thursday to give away her crown to the new queen.

Some childhood friends have put together an invitation to today's match on Facebook, so the road rooting section should be boosted by a large Liberty contingent.

"I'm guessing a lot," said Burnell.

Burnell's freshman season in Ventura has been slowed by a slightly torn meniscus. She has 11 goals and six assists in playing time limited by the knee injury.

"With her it's a matter of how many minutes she can play," said Ventura coach Steve Hoffman. "We leave it up to her."

Her contributions have usually been limited to 15 or 20 minutes per game.

"Every now and then it gets irritated," said Burnell. "I'm bummed that I'm going to have to have surgery after the season... But I'm still having a lot of fun playing."

Combining for 33 goals and 23 assists in 15 games, the attacking trident of Victoria Burnell, Monique Orocio and Yadira Yoraya have kept the Ventura College women's soccer team a dangerous attacking team after the graduation of Jazmarae Strozier.

But the Pirates have showed they are a force on both ends of the pitch this month, when they hadn't allowed a goal entering Friday's loss at Fresno City.

Ventura's shutout streak, which includes seven complete WSC North matches, grew to 717 minutes after Tuesday's 5-0 win over West Los Angeles

A season-ending injury to fullback Susana Alonso forced Hoffman to shift to a 3-4-3 formation and a sweeper system, complete with marking backs.

With sophomore Taylor Steele (St. Bonaventure High) at sweeper and Evelyn Medina (Pacifica) and Kylee Haughton (Ventura) at marking backs, as well as reserves Katelyn Norris (Ventura) and Whitney Rosenheim (Agoura), the Pirates have been nearly impenetrable.

Ventura last allowed a goal Sept. 28, when Cuesta scored in the third minute.

"And that was a free kick," said Hoffman. "It wasn't even from open play."

Stung by rival Moorpark a year ago, Ventura (11-2-2, 8-0) has used its eight-match winning steak to move into position to regain the WSC North title, leading second-place Santa Barbara City (12-2-2, 6-1-1) by five points and third-place Moorpark (9-4-2, 5-2-1) by eight points

Chalk has mostly prevailed in the Southern California regional playoffs. Seven of the top eight seeds will contest Saturday's men's regional finals in both the North and South and the entire Top 8 is still alive in the SoCal women's regional.

But one bracket has already been busted up North, where the No. 18-seeded Sierra women shocked No. 2 Fresno City, 96-86, despite 23 points and 19 rebounds from Northern California Player of the Year Sumiya Darden.

"I knew it was a trap game for us," Fresno coach Brian Tessler told the Fresno Bee. "I knew how big and aggressive they were."

No. 18 Sierra will visit No. 10 Chabot, which upset No. 7 Shasta 45-40 on Friday, for the right to play the South's top seed in next week's state quarterfinals at CLU. Barring another busted bracket, that would be No. 1-seeded Fullerton.

Meanwhile, the Fresno City men's basketball team, coached by Camarillo native and Rio Mesa High product Ed Madec, is the last double-digit seed still alive in the men's basketball tournament.

The No. 12 Rams, who upset No. 5 American River 86-83 last Friday, can bring their coach back home on business with a win Saturday at No. 5 San Jose City.

"We've got our hands full," said Madec.

In a rematch of its state dual team triumph from last spring, the defending state champion Ventura College men's tennis team leveled Fresno 8-1 Saturday afternoon at home.

"It was a good midterm test," said Ventura coach Nelson Emery. "They're definitely the best team in the North. If we should meet them in the state finals, its nice to have already beaten them."

The Pirates (12-1) lone loss came against Southern California rival Desert on March 8 in Palm Desert. The playoffs begin April 14.

Desert and Ventura look like No. 1 and 2 seeds, respectively.

"It's heading that way," said Emery.

Fresno City (30-6)
No. 4 North
Location: Fresno
Nickname: Rams
Head coach: Brian Tessler (2nd year, 65-9)
How it got here: Seeded No. 4 in regional, def. No. 13 San Jose City 75-51, def. No. 5 Sierra 65-52.
Conference finish: Central Valley, champion (10-0)
RPI: 7th
Vs. Great Eight: 0-5
Team offense: 73.3 points per game (8th)
Team defense: 53.8 ppg (11th)
Leading scorers: F Surniya Darden 14.3 ppg, G Blakely Goldberg 12.4 ppg.
Leading rebounders: Darden 8.0 rpg, G Jasmine Noldon 5.6 rpg.
Great Eight history: Fifth appearance. Final Four in '08.
Note: Darden is fourth in the state in shooting percentage (63.9 percent).
Strengths: Offensive spacing. Rare execution of a rare system. Home advantage.
Weaknesses: Free throw woes. Lack of size.
Tessler says: "We're not nearly as talented, but we have been under the radar this year and it's been fun. I'm not going into this thing intimidated at all."
Scouts say: "He doesn't have Final Four personnel, but he has a great system that the kids have bought into and they execute the system."
Outlook: A tough draw because it's a home team that's well coached and effective. But lack of an inside presence and consistency at the free throw line spell trouble against Mount SAC and, perhaps, Antelope Valley.

No. 2S Ventura (33-0) will face No. 3N Foothill (27-6) in the state quarterfinals at Fresno's Selland Arena at 5 p.m. Friday.

Three-time defending champion No. 1S Mount SAC (31-3) will follow against No. 4N Fresno City (30-6) in the marquee 7 p.m. game.

No. 4S Pasadena City (30-4) and No. 1N San Francisco (33-2) get the day started at 1 p.m. with No. 3S Antelope Valley (28-9) and No. 2S San Joaquin Delta (28-6) following at 3 p.m.