Freshman Joclyn Cooney scored off a Jazmarae Strozier pass as the Ventura College women's soccer team beat rival Moorpark, 2-1, Saturday night at the VC Sportsplex.

After a scoreless first half, Jennifer Aruz-Martinez opened the scoring for Ventura in the 58th minute. Kaitlin Walters evened the score at 1-1 from the penalty spot with 12 minutes to play.

Ventura (9-1-3), ranked No. 12 in the nation by the NSCAA, improves to 3-0 in the WSC North. Defending champion Moorpark, which ended Ventura's 11-year WSC North title streak last year, falls to 9-3-1, 2-2.

Moorpark's Augie Cazarez cancelled out the opener by Oxnard's Jonny Martinez as the Ventura County derby ended in a 1-1 draw for the third straight meeting.

The ongoing stalemate between the Oxnard College and Moorpark College men's soccer teams continued Friday afternoon.

Ninety minutes later, after the teams split the spoils, Moorpark (7-2-2, 3-0-1) still sat alone in first place and Oxnard (4-5-1, 0-1-3) was still searching for its first conference win.

"We're developing into a team of fighters," said Moorpark coach Sean Roche.

"We've outplayed every single team," said Oxnard coach Ross Greaney, "but we can't seem to finish teams off.
"We took it to them today."

Click on the jump to get an early, unedited look at my community college capsules for tomorrow's games, in which Moorpark (3-1) visits Canyons (5-0) and Ventura (3-2) hosts Pasadena (3-2).

As coach Jim Bittner tells it, the Moorpark College football team may just be healthy for their trip to Santa Clarita Saturday.

"(Danny) Mosier went live for the first time today," said Bittner Thursday. "He's been at practice every day,

"He looked real good today. He looked like he's willing to go"

Mosier was leading Southern California in rushing and touchdowns when he was injured in the Raiders' third game against Fullerton.

Another key questionmark is linebacker Miller Aupui.

"Miller is ready to go," said Bittner. "Also (safety) Alex Tennyson.

"We feel like we'll be ready to go."

In facing 5-0 College of the Canyons Saturday night, the Moorpark College football team just may be up against the top running back and wide receiver in the state.

The Cougars feature RB Fred Winborn and WR Hayo Carpenter.

we've been in a lot of big games over the years.

Vc football hour
Jim bitnter, moorpark college

Canyons' offense

"They are both fantastic players," said Moorpark coach Jim Bittner. "They run through tacklers and they run by tacklers.

"They have a lot of weapons."

The dynamic duo are first and third in Southern California in all-purpose yardage per game. Carpenter (34 rec., 613 yards, 8 TDs) is averaging 188.4 yards per game, while Winborn (50 att., 465 yards, 4 TDs) is averaging 171.7 yards per game.

(Of course, Moorpark's Dan Mosier sits between the two Cougars at 173.7 ypg.)

"They're definitely very talented athletes," said Canyons coach Garrett Tujague of his duo. "But one of the things that we try to do here is get our kids to understand what it is we're trying to do... When you watch us, you'll see Hayo or Fred talking to the younger players."

However, Winborn has sat out two of the Cougars' past three games. Tujague said that he will definitely be in the lineup Saturday.

"It's not necessarily an injury issue," said Tujague. "We just want to make sure he's ready. He got a little banged up after Fullerton (two weeks ago)... He's fine.

"It's just the question, 'Do I take a risk in not letting him heal completely.' "

The Moorpark College football team faces powerhouse College of the Canyons Saturday night in Santa Clarita in a meeting of the No. 21- and No. 2-ranked teams in the nation, according to JC Gridwire.

Since being reborn in 1998, 17 years after being disbanded, the Canyons' program is 98-22 with six conference titles and state and national championships in 2004.

Second-year head coach Garrett Tujague says the Cougars' credo is to out-work their opponents:

"We're going to out-work our opponent. We're going to work harder in the offseason. We're going to work harder in the weight room... That's been the on-going characteristic of Cougar football."

Moorpark College middle blocker Rachel Olinyk leads WSC women's volleyball with 30 solo blocks.

A week before WSC North play begins, Moorpark (10-4) enjoys the division's best record.

The Moorpark College men's soccer team (7-2-1) rose atop the WSC standings alone Tuesday by improving to 3-0 in conference play with a 2-0 win at Hancock.

Rei Stern had a goal and an assist. Augustin Cazares also scored.

The Raiders, who have yet to allow a goal in WSC play, host defending champion Oxnard Friday at 4 p.m.

"Interesting isn't it?" asked coach Sean Roche.

Moorpark has allowed a WSC-best seven goals in 11 matches and hasn't allowed a goal in four of its last five matches.

Previous joint leader Santa Barbara City (7-4, 2-1) was beaten 3-2 by Citrus on Tuesday.

Updated WSC standings after the jump.

Ventura College football coach Jon Mack is still trying to figure out why his team has, in consecutive weeks, been shut out in the first half, before falling short with furious late rallies.

Ventura trailed Cerritos 12-0 Sept. 27 and Glendale 14-0 Saturday, before falling 18-13 and 17-14, respectively.

"I don't know, I don't know," said Mack Tuesday. "The last two weeks, why have we started slow the last two weeks? We haven't been able to figure it out yet.

"That's my job."

Mack continues to applaud his team's character, but that has been unable to help the Pirates from falling from the No. 11-ranked team in the country to a team with no room for error.

"We're showing great character," said Mack. "No one's quitting. But getting behind like that is just terrible."

Moorpark coach Jim Bittner said his team will be boosted in its Top 25 clash at No. 2 College of the Canyons by some of the players who missed games with shoulder injuries last month, although it remains unclear who.

Running back Danny Mosier, who was leading Southern California in rushing and touchdowns when he was hurt against Fullerton, is expected back, as well as cornerback Roy Holmes and safety Alex Tennyson.

"They're questionable, but I think we'll get them back," said Bittner.

Middle linebacker Miller Aupiu is one of the wounded who still has some healing to do.

"We haven't been able to get him in pads yet," said Bittner Tuesday. "Until we can get him back in pads, I won't know if he'll be able to make it."

The title test comes early for the Moorpark College football team Saturday.

Despite being idle over the weekend, Moorpark (3-1) rose four spots to No. 21 in JC Gridwire's national Top 25 entering its showdown at No. 2 College of the Canyons (5-0) Saturday in the Raiders' SCFA Northern Conference opener in Santa Clarita.

"I don't know where they're ranked, but they're the best team we've seen," said Moorpark coach Jim Bittner.

A state and national championship contender this year, Canyons has been far and away the team of the decade among former Western State Conference programs, winning division championships for six straight years from 2000 to 2005.

Yet the Raiders have given Canyons some trouble during that span. Canyons' 44-game WSC winning streak from 2000 to 2006 fit snugly between two trips to Moorpark.

Ray Carmel's 95-yard kickoff return with four minutes left earned Moorpark a 31-26 win over the Cougars on Oct. 28, 2000.

Less than seven years later, Cameron Merrill threw for 358 yards and four touchdowns, including an 80-yard strike to Tony Washington and an 82-yard strike to Conrad Meadows, as Moorpark snapped the Cougars' WSC streak 35-28.

"One thing, we've never been intimidated by them," said Bittner. "We've always played them.

"We have an opportunity. Our only advantage is they've annihilated everybody."

Canyons leads the state in scoring, averaging 50.4 points per game.

We're working on a table of contents that will give readers, as we grow The College Blog, the ability to call up only posts from the sports, league or school about which they care. More to come.

Ventura County enjoyed one week of having two nationally-ranked community college football teams.

The Ventura College football team dropped out of the JC Gridwire national Top 25 by losing for the second straight week, 17-14, at Glendale Saturday night.

Moorpark was idle Saturday, yet moved up four spots to No. 21 nationally. The Raiders visit No. 2 College of the Canyons Saturday night in a Top 25 showdown.

Last week was the first week in recent memory in which both Ventura County programs were ranked in the Top 25.

Click the jump to see the entire rankings.

NCAA Division I
USC 44, Oregon 10: USC rebounds with rout of Oregon by Joe Curley in Los Angeles

Community College
Glendale 17, Ventura 14: Ventura's second-half rally comes up short by Loren Ledin in Glendale

The Ventura College football team's late rally fell short for the second straight week, 17-14, Saturday night in its opening SCFA Northern Conference game at Glendale College.

Down 17-0 in the third quarter, running back Semaj Washington had a 1-yard touchdown run and running back Michael Lee broke a 56-yard touchdown run to pull within three points with 8:14 to play.

But the Pirates did not earn a first down with their two final possessions.

Lee rushed for 109 yards on 15 carries.

Ventura outgained its opponent for the fifth straight game, 416 to 379, but is 3-2.

Quarterback Lee Mondol finished 16 of 30 for 253 yards and two interceptions.

"I don¹t know what happened," said Ventura coach Jon Mack. "We¹ll look at everything and go back to work."

One game after Jaquizz Rodgers gashed the USC defense for 186 yards rushing, USC allowed just six yards on the ground in the final three quarters in Saturday's 44-10 win over Oregon, which entered play as the fourth-best rushing team in the country.

Safety Kevin Ellison, who had a career-high 12 tackles -- all in the first half -- was a big part of the solution as USC moved eight men into the tackle box.

"We had an emphasis this week on having me be the eighth man and stacking the box," said Ellison. "They have a great running game, but we had seen that other teams had some success with eight men in the box."

In the aftermath of the USC football team's impressive 44-10 win over Oregon Saturday night at the Coliseum, USC head coach Pete Carroll took the blame for the 27-21 loss at Oregon State that knocked the top-ranked Trojans out of the Top 8.

"We just weren't right," said Carroll. "As much as I hate to say it, coming off the win against Ohio State, we didn't handle it well enough.

"We just totally didn't get it done. I just didn't get it done. I'll forever be frustrated by (the performance)."

"It was a tremendous learning opportunity that no one game is more important than another. I'm still bitter about how it played out. I loved this win tonight, but I'm still pissed about last week."

The USC defense bounced back from its stinging defeat 10 days ago at Oregon State, partly because of the way Hueneme High product Josh Pinkard played in his second straight start at cornerback.

"We bounced back," said Pinkard, who recorded five tackles, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup. "We weren't really trying to answer any more questions.
"As a defense, we just felt like we need to make a statement for ourselves."

Pinkard recovered the Jairus Byrd fumble in the final minute of the first half that allowed USC to build a 27-10 halftime lead.

"I was just making a play on the ball," said Pinkard. "Fortunately, the ball came out. It was a race to the ball... my instinct was to pick it up and try to score."

Using those insticts, Pinkard, with both knees on the ground, tried to protect the ball without possessing it, so he could get on his feet and get in the end zone.

That's exactly what happened, only the officials spoiled the fun by calling Pinkard down.

"A little strategy, but it didn't work," said Pinkard, who did draw a facemask penalty for his trouble, however, that set the Trojans up on the Oregon 11.

Quarterback Mark Sanchez hit receiver Patrick Turner for a backbreaking touchdown pass on the next play.

USC quarterback Mark Sanchez says he is fine after leaving the game midway through the third quarter with a knee injury following a sack by Oregon defensive end Nick Reed

"I think it's going to be just fine," said Sanchez. "It just kind of bent a little funny... It didn't pop or anything. Good thing I was wearing a brace."

The USC football team's 44-10 win over Oregon was seconds old when the Matthews family, which was credited with 13 tackles and a sack, met at midfield.

Older brother Clay, an Agoura High product, started for USC and made five tackles. Younger brother Casey, an Oaks Christian School product, came off the bench for Oregon and made eight tackles and a sack.

"It was exciting," said Matthews. "They both made a few players and neither of them got hurt, which always makes for a good night."

As they huddled for photos after the game, family members showed off their "Matthews Showdown" t-shirts.

When the two brothers were both on the field for the kickoff, it reminded their father, NFL Hall of Famer Clay Matthews Jr., of facing off against his brother Bruce twice a year when the Cleveland Browns and Houston Oilers competed in the AFC Central.

"Those games were always miniature Super Bowls," said the father.