The Ventura College women's soccer team (14-1-3) travels to Santa Barbara City (11-1-5) this afternoon looking to regain its Western State Conference crown.

In a meeting of teams ranked No. 7 and No. 14 nationally, the Pirates need a tie to clinch their 12th WSC North title in 13 seasons.

"We're ready to go," said coach Steve Hoffman. "I told (the players) today, 'Last year, we were a crossbar away from winning the league. This year, we need to sew it up (today)'."

Santa Barbara, which hasn't lost at home in more than two seasons, can't afford a tie.

"They've got to come out and try to beat us," said Hoffman. "They're going to go for it. It should be interesting."