Burbank Tournament offers Pacific preview
BURBANK – Though it was generally tough sledding for the four area teams who participated at the three-day-long Burbank High girls’ water polo tournament, there were a few bright spots.
Burroughs High took seventh place in the 12-team tournament, while Glendale and Burbank picked up at least one victory each and Hoover gained experience.
“I think this was a good tournament for everyone involved,” Burbank Coach Allyson Young said. “This was a good chance to get four games under your belt against teams from different areas, but also from your area and from the Pacific League, in general.”
Burroughs, Burbank, Glendale and Hoover were all placed separately in one of four three-team pools.
The Indians were the only team that didn’t finish last in their pool, taking second in the third pool behind Alemany.
Burroughs finished 2-2 in the tournament and defeated San Marino, 7-3, to earn seventh place.
Junior Bianca Sanchez led the charge for the Indians (4-4) with five goals, while junior Gwen Turla added two goals versus the Titans.
Previous to that, Burroughs was defeated Saturday morning by Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, 9-5, as Sanchez tallied three goals and Turla chipped in the other two scores.
On Friday, Burroughs opened with a 14-7 loss to Alemany before rebounding for a 9-5 victory over Pacific League-rival Arcadia.
The Pacific League encounter was one of many in the multi-day tournament that served as a league preview for some teams.
Burbank finished third in its pool, tallied a 1-3 tournament mark and faced two Pacific League foes in the process.
After sustaining pool-play losses of 4-3 and 11-3 to Calabasas and eventual tournament runner-up Mayfield Senior, respectively, the Bulldogs fought back with a 12-1 triumph over Hoover in Saturday morning play.
That win vaulted the Bulldogs into a match versus another familiar league foe in Glendale.
This time the Nitros (2-3) were victorious, 8-5, as seven Glendale players chipped in at least one goal. Glendale’s Mandy Nassirpour paced her squad with two goals.
Burbank junior Lexi Lyneis led all scorers with three goals, while Sune Aghakian contributed two scores.
“This was a valuable tournament to get some quality games before league, although we actually ended up playing two league foes,” Young said. “Even though Pasadena and [Crescenta Valley] weren’t here, you can kind of see where you fit in league.”
The victory helped capped a nice turnaround effort for Glendale.
The Nitros dropped their opening contests of pool play to Notre Dame (10-5 score) and champion Westridge (21-13) on Thursday.
On Saturday, however, Glendale opened with a 7-5 victory over Arcadia thanks in part to three goals from Elen Muradyan.
As for Hoover, the Tornadoes finished 0-4, but still had had some positive results and some valuable scouting versus four other league foes.
“It was a great tournament to start off the beginning of the season and it was kind of like a mini Pacific League preview,” Hoover Coach Brittany Connell said. “It was a great experience to see our Pacific League opponents so early. We can look at what worked for us and what didn’t so when we see these teams in January, we’ll have a better plan.”
Tornadoes defender Inga Akopyan finished with 10 steals throughout the squad’s four tournament games, while goalie Jocelyn Claycomb totaled 33 saves.
Westridge defeated Prep League archrival Mayfield, 15-12, for the tournament title, while Alemany took third place.
