Burroughs boys’ soccer defeats Pasadena to open league
BURBANK — Burroughs High or Pasadena have won the past five Pacific League championships in boys’ soccer.
So it seemed fitting the Indians kicked off their league campaign Friday afternoon with a match against the visiting Bulldogs.
Burroughs received two late second-half goals and a solid performance in goal by Sebastian Kalemkarian to earn a 4-2 victory at Memorial Field.
The Indians (3-1) were scheduled to open league Tuesday at Hoover, but poor air quality due to nearby fires prompted a postponement.
“It’s nice to start out league with a win because we have had some slow starts in the first half of league in years past,” said Burroughs coach Mike Kodama, whose teams won league last season and in 2013 and 2014. “We will take it.
“We are young and we are pretty much a new team, so it’s good for the guys to get the first win and hopefully we can build on it.”
Fine play by Kalemkarian (12 saves) helped keep Burroughs in the game against Pasadena (2-2, 0-2 in league).
“We had some issues today, but I thought we did a good job at fixing those issues and we were able to come through with the win,” Kalemkarian said.
“It’s really a matter of sticking together as a team and it was nice to see us stick together against a very good team today.”
The Indians were led by freshman Manny Gonzalez, who had a goal and an assist.
After Pasadena took a 1-0 lead in the 29th minute, the Indians responded quickly with two goals. Junior Esteban Alcantar scored on a free kick 33 yards out in the 33rd minute and sophomore Manny Pascual scored on an assist from sophomore David Gerlach in the 36th minute to put Burroughs in front, 2-1.
The Bulldogs’ Asher Smith scored three minutes into the second half to tie the score at 2.
The Indians went back in front in the 67th minute when Gonzalez scored following a free kick 30 yards out by sophomore Juan Carlos Rosales.
Burroughs added a goal in the 71st minute when Gonzalez took a ball deep on the right side, placed a perfect cross to senior Xavier Iniguez, who left his feet and blasted a header for the goal.
“We are a young team, but we have some guys who are very skilled who can score,” Gonzalez said. “We are getting better as a team and now we are really playing like a team.”
Friday’s match was the first of four in five days for the Indians, who will play at 7 p.m. Saturday against Westlake at Memorial Field in a consolation match of the Ralph Brandt Tournament.
Twitter: @jefftsports
