Burroughs water polo punches ticket to CIF quarterfinals
BURBANK — It was actually a loss prior to the playoffs that did wonders for the confidence of the Burroughs High girls’ water polo players.
In that contest, the Indians lost by two goals in the Pacific League championship to perennial title-holder Crescenta Valley.
“That game versus CV just showed the girls that we are a force that could be reckoned with in the Division VI playoffs and we can do it,” Burroughs coach Jacob Cook said. “And they got this thing in their heads that they really can do this and be successful in the playoffs.”
Since that loss, the Indians have used fine defensive efforts to win their first two CIF Southern Section Division VI playoff matches, the latest coming Thursday afternoon with a 13-5 second-round home victory against Walnut.
The Indians (12-5), the runner-up in the Pacific League, have surrendered eight goals in two postseason games, which includes a 14-3 win over Nipomo in the first round Tuesday.
Burroughs moves on to the quarterfinals on Saturday and will take on Tustin or No. 2 Valley View at a site to be determined.
It is the first time Burroughs has advanced to the quarterfinals in six seasons. In 2012, the Indians lost to Redlands East Valley, 10-5, in a 16-team bracket quarterfinal.
“Suddenly since we’ve started CIF, something has triggered in our heads and our defense has just improved so much in these two games,” said Burroughs junior Aleah Orozco. “I think what has really helped is that we have come into these games and we really don’t know a lot about who we are playing, so we have to have the mentality that we really have to give it our all not knowing what to expect.”
Orozco led the winning effort for Burroughs, scoring a match-high five goals to go with four steals. Junior Briana Meneses added three goals, senior Gwen Turla had two goals, four steals and three assists, senior Bianca Sanchez had two goals and Cameron Flores had a goal.
The Indians also received a strong effort in goal from junior Emma Nathan, who had 11 saves and two assists.
“It’s a nice balance of having a good defense and having scorers all around,” said Cook, who led the Burroughs boys’ water polo team to a Division V championship in 2016. “We knew [Nathan] could do it so we kept her in.
“The defense was just killer today from our field players, making a bunch of steals and playing a really tight press. They are not playing off, they’re playing in their face, hard water polo.”
Against Walnut (13-14), the runner-up from the Hacienda League, the score was tied at 1 with 4:03 left in the first quarter. The Mustangs took a 2-1 advantage with a goal at 3:42 by senior Kaitlin Garrett (three goals). But the Indians tallied the final two goals to lead, 3-2, after one.
In the second quarter, the Indians allowed just five shots and one goal, outscoring Walnut, 3-1, to go into halftime in front, 6-3.
Another stifling defensive effort in the third quarter by Burroughs led to a shutout of the Mustangs, who came up empty on all nine of their shots. Orozco scored with 4:32 left to give the Indians a 9-3 lead, which is how the third ended.
Burroughs increased its advantage to 11-3 when Orozco scored on a skip shot with 5:51 remaining.
“Once we saw what they had in the first quarter and who their best shooters were, we were able to adjust from there,” Cook said.
Twitter: @jefftsports
