Burroughs boys’ soccer offense comes alive in CIF win

BURBANK — Fresh off winning its first Pacific League title in three years, the Burroughs High boys’ soccer team earned a postseason berth and a home game in the first round, where it hosted Westminster, looking to extend an already successful season.

Against the visiting Lions, the Indians poured it on, scoring more goals in their first-round game of the CIF Southern Section Division III playoffs than they had in any game all season, resulting in a 7-1 victory for Burroughs Thursday at Memorial Field and a spot in the second round on Wednesday.

“We just worked hard,” said Indian Cameron Kelly, who had three assists. “When we got the opportunities to finish, that is just what we did. We finished. Coach has been telling us all year, ‘If you can finish, you can go out and demolish teams.’”

Burroughs (18-4-4) scored early and often to overwhelm visiting Westminster (10-7-3). The victory continued the Indians’ recent run of strong play, as they are now 11-1-1 in the last 13 games and have an eight-match unbeaten streak.

Indian Richard Alonzo scored two goals, including the one that put Burroughs ahead for good 11 minutes in.

“I was just trying to be in the right place to put it away,” Alonzo said.

The senior’s second score came two minutes into the second half as part of a four-goal outburst for the Indians that put the game away.

“The first game is always important so you can get it started right,” Alonzo said. “Westminster was a good team. It may have been 7-1, but it was a good game.”

Joining Alonzo with two goals was freshman David Gerlach. The forward netted the final two goals of the game to cap the scoring. The first, and his first goal as an Indian, came out of a scramble for the ball in front of the net. The second came on a picture-perfect flick header off a laser of a pass from Kelly.

“They were my first two goals [in high school], so it felt good to put two on the board,” Gerlach said.

The Indians, ranked No. 6 in the final Division III poll, came out aggressive from the start and it resulted in the first goal of the contest in just three minutes in on a goal by William Rosales. On the play, Kelly got the ball out wide before he sent a pass into the middle for Rosales to put away.

“The boys played really well,” Burroughs Coach Michael Kodama said. “The early goal [helped because] when you get in the playoffs you don’t know what is going to happen, so the early goal was a big one.”

Westminster, the third-place team from the Golden West League, tied the score in the sixth minute on a goal by Anthony Bello, but Burroughs struck back, taking the lead for good five minutes later on the first of Alonzo’s goals. The Indians added a third goal five minutes into injury time when freshman Carlos Rosales found the back of the net to make the score at the break, 3-1.

“They got their goal, then we got one right back and that really put us in control,” Kodama said.

In the second half, Burroughs unleashed an offensive salvo, netting four goals before the halfway point to blow the game open. Erik Camarillo went first, scoring off a set play with a free kick from 31 yards out that eluded the three-person wall and bent into the upper 90 of the goal. Alonzo scored his second goal three minutes later before Gerlach’s two goals finished the rout.