Burroughs boys’ water polo nets wild-card playoff victory
Burroughs’ Marko Vucetic pumps his fist after scoring against Atascadero in a wild card playoff game.
BURBANK — After finishing in last place last season in the Pacific League, the Burroughs High boys’ water polo team sought a change in attitude.
The Indians made the successful transformation from cellar dweller to playoff contender by focusing on preparation. It led to the Indians finishing third in league and qualifying for the CIF Southern Section Division IV playoffs.
Burroughs passed its first postseason test Tuesday, as it received four goals apiece from Aram Nordanyan and David Arakelyan to record a 14-11 wild-card home win against Atascadero.
PHOTOS: Burroughs advances after 14-11 victory over Atascadero
Burroughs (13-11) will face third-seeded Santa Monica in a first-round match Thursday on the road.
“Coming into the season, we knew we needed to be able to practice better,” said Nordanyan, who scored all of his goals in the second half. “We had to be more composed and take things more seriously. You could see that happening just by getting third in league.”
Burroughs converted on four of seven man-advantage opportunities to turn back Atascadero (9-15), which led the Indians, 6-5, at halftime. Nordanyan had a man-advantage goal to give the Indians a 10-7 lead with 1:07 remaining in the third quarter.
“We made some adjustments on defense because we had a better idea of who their better players were,” said Burroughs Coach Jacob Cook, who got two goals apiece from Marko Vucetic, JJ Ambartsumyan and Daniel Garia. “We were also a lot more aggressive on offense in the second half because sometimes it takes our guys a little while to get warmed up.
“It means a lot to make the playoffs and then win a game after finishing dead last last year.”
Burroughs held a 2-1 lead after the first quarter on goals by Arakelyan and Vucetic. The Greyhounds, who finished fourth in the PAC-8 League, took a 3-2 lead on a man-advantage goal by Yuta Nogi with 5:07 left in the second quarter. A man-advantage goal by Garia knotted the contest at 5 with 36 seconds left in the first half. Scott Beraud gave the Greyhounds a 6-5 lead with 20 seconds to go. Beraud finished with a team-best four goals for the Greyhounds.
Nordanyan scored his first goal to tie it at 7 with 3:48 left in the third quarter. Ambartsumyan, Arakelyan and Nordanyan each scored for Burroughs in less than two minutes to spur Burroughs to a 10-7 advantage.
“We stayed composed in the second half of the game and we were able to execute on our six-on-five situations,” Nordanyan said.
Kyler Warren scored to bring the Greyhounds to within 11-9 with 5:40 remaining in the fourth quarter. Nordanyan then scored two straight goals 42 seconds apart to give Burroughs a 13-9 lead. After Calum Gower scored for Atascadero to make it 13-11 with 2:58 remaining, Ambartsumyan closed out the scoring with 37 seconds remaining.
“I think we were able to do a much better job passing in the second half and it set us up for some good scoring chances,” Nordanyan said. “Our attitude was we didn’t come this far for nothing.”
--
Charles Rich, charles.rich@latimes.com
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich