Third-quarter surge propels Burroughs girls’ water polo past Glendale
BURBANK — Following a defensive battle in the first half, things changed considerably in the second half for the Burroughs High girls’ water polo team.
The Indians switched gears in a hurry , scoring eight straight goals en route to a convincing 11-2 Pacific League home win against Glendale on Tuesday.
Dominique Silva had four goals, including three in the third quarter to help Burroughs (10-7, 3-0 in league) pull away from Glendale (9-10, 2-1). The Indians are tied for first in league with Crescenta Valley, which won the league championship last season.
“We were able to go on a surge and we were prepared to play,” Silva said. “We have a very good team and we all know what we are supposed to do. Things are looking good right now and we just have to continue playing well and we’ll see what happens.”
Burroughs held a 2-0 halftime lead. Glendale scored on its first possession on a shot by Nazeli Hovasapian just 18 seconds into the third quarter.
Then the Indians responded in a big way. Silva scored two goals a little more than a minute apart to make it 4-1. Cameron Flores scored to give the Indians a 5-1 lead with 3:32 left in the third quarter. Gwen Turla and Silva completed the third-quarter scoring.
“We needed that run right there,” Burroughs Coach Jake Cook said. “We played good defense and we got some of those goals off counter-attacks. That put us ahead and we were able to break through. Dominique set the tone with those two quick goals.”
Burroughs goaltender Kate Wilke also had an outstanding effort. The senior collected seven saves in each half and turned back several good scoring opportunities in the first half. Wilke also notched six steals and four assists to further frustrate the Nitros.
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Charles Rich, charles.rich@latimes.com
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
“Kate has got a lot of experience,” Cook said. “She’s capable of getting a lot of steals and assists.”
Flores scored once and Turla had two goals to give the Indians a 10-1 lead near the midway point of the fourth quarter.
The Indians also received two goals from Lizzy Wrobel. Wrobel opened the scoring in the first quarter before closing out with a goal with 20 seconds left in the match.
Glendale had one man-advantage goal in seven chances. It came on a goal by Anna Ter-Mkrtehyan with 2:08 to play in the fourth quarter and cut the deficit to 10-2.
Glendale Coach Casey Sripramong said the Nitros had a difficult time stopping Burroughs’ speed.
“They are a very fast team,” Sripramong said. “They got out to that lead in the third quarter and it was too hard to come back from.
“We’re trying to pick up more experience. We’ll learn from it and try to do our best next time.”
Burroughs and Glendale will participate in league matches Thursday. Burroughs will take on visiting Hoover and Glendale will stay on the road to meet Crescenta Valley.
