Burbank — For most of its Pacific League match Thursday afternoon, the Burroughs High girls’ water polo team found itself at a disadvantage against Glendale.
The Indians were called for 15 exclusions, compared to four for the Nitros. Still, Glendale was able to capitalize on just six of its man-advantage chances.
That left the door open to the Indians, who surged in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Nitros by five goals, to claim a 14-10 Pacific League victory at home.
“They had one player who, alone, I think got 10 ejections by herself,” Burroughs Coach Jacob Cook said. “But I was happy with how we played on a lot of those six-on-five situations. We worked on that in practice [Wednesday], so it’s nice to see that what we worked on was put to good use.
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Quite determined to score, Burroughs’ Aleah Orozco lines up a shot and shoots to score before Glendale’s Emma Mueller gets to her in a Pacific League girls’ water polo match at Burroughs High School on Thursday, January 19, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Burroughs’ goalie Melanie Gazazian blocks a point-blanc shot taken by Glendale’s Arpa Shahbazian on a break away in a Pacific League girls’ water polo match at Burroughs High School on Thursday, January 19, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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As Glendale’s Mondana Nassirpour shoots the ball, Burroughs’ Aleah Orozco and Elizabeth Wrobel work together to block the shot in a Pacific League girls’ water polo match at Burroughs High School on Thursday, January 19, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Glendale’s Anna Ter-Mkrtchyan is attacked by Burroughs’ Aleah Orozco as she looks for a teammate to pass to in a Pacific League girls’ water polo match at Burroughs High School on Thursday, January 19, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Glendale’s goalie Linet Voskanyan makes a save of a shot by Burroughs in a Pacific League girls’ water polo match at Burroughs High School on Thursday, January 19, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Glendale’s Arpa Shahbazian gets off a shot to score against Burroughs’ Elizabeth Wrobel in a Pacific League girls’ water polo match at Burroughs High School on Thursday, January 19, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Burroughs’ Aleah Orozco blocks a shot with her goal keeper Melanie Gazazianin behind her a Pacific League girls’ water polo match at Burroughs High School on Thursday, January 19, 2017. A penalty was given right after this play when Orozco was called for holding. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Glendale’s goalie Linet Voskanyan makes a stop early in the match against Burroughs in a Pacific League girls’ water polo match at Burroughs High School on Thursday, January 19, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Glendale’s Mondana Nassirpour shoots against Burroughs’ Gwen Turla in a Pacific League girls’ water polo match at Burroughs High School on Thursday, January 19, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Burroughs’ head coach Jacob Cook talks with his team during a quarter break against Glendale in a Pacific League girls’ water polo match at Burroughs High School on Thursday, January 19, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Glendale’s head coach Casey Sripramong takes ownership of a breakdown in defense after Burroughs scored a break away goal in a Pacific League girls’ water polo match at Burroughs High School on Thursday, January 19, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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With time running out in the half, Burroughs’ Cameron Flores takes a shot with Glendale’s Aleh Shabazian reaching to defend in a Pacific League girls’ water polo match at Burroughs High School on Thursday, January 19, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Glendale’s Arpa Shahbazian reaches for the ball on defense as Burroughs’ Elizabeth Wrobel holds the water an arms’ length away in a Pacific League girls’ water polo match at Burroughs High School on Thursday, January 19, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Glendale’s Aleh Shabazian turns and shoots against Burroughs’ Cameron Flores who just gets a hand on the shooting arm in a Pacific League girls’ water polo match at Burroughs High School on Thursday, January 19, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Glendale’s Erika Aivazi shoots against Burroughs in a Pacific League girls’ water polo match at Burroughs High School on Thursday, January 19, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Burroughs’ Dominique Silva, off of a break away, shoots and scores against Glendale in a Pacific League girls’ water polo match at Burroughs High School on Thursday, January 19, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Burroughs’ Bianca Sanchez, off of a break away, shoots and scores as Glendale’s Aleh Shabazian chases on defense in a Pacific League girls’ water polo match at Burroughs High School on Thursday, January 19, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Burroughs’ Andrea Silva shoots, but doesn’t score after Glendale’s Aleh Shabazian gets a hand on her shooting arm in a Pacific League girls’ water polo match at Burroughs High School on Thursday, January 19, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Glendale’s Amanda Briones, who received the ball and submerged in front of the Burroughs goal, came out of the water shooting and scored with Burroughs’ Andrea Silva right behind her in a Pacific League girls’ water polo match at Burroughs High School on Thursday, January 19, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
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Glendale’s Amanda Briones shoots and scores against Burroughs’ Robin Alves in a Pacific League girls’ water polo match at Burroughs High School on Thursday, January 19, 2017. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)
“To have that many situations where we’re down all the time, I give our girls credit for stepping up and playing tough. We had been struggling with that and I think today we did a lot better job with it.”
It was the first league loss for Glendale, which fell to 6-5, 3-1 in league play. Burroughs (8-6, 3-1) moved into a tie for second place in league.
Glendale led for most of the first three quarters, though the Indians kept things close and never trailed by more than two goals.
“For us, it’s just a matter of getting organized and taking advantage of the situations that we have,” Glendale Coach Casey Sripramong said. “We are still learning how to play with each other on six-on-five opportunities. That’s something that we are going to have to work on.
“I was happy with what we were able to create and I thought that we played a great game. But in that fourth, we lost a little steam and Burroughs gained some steam.
Burroughs was led by Bianca Sanchez, who scored four goals. Aleah Orozco and Dominique Silva added three each and Lizzy Wrobel, Gwen Turla, Cameron Flores (four assists) and Robin Alves had one apiece.
Glendale entered the forth quarter with a 9-8 advantage. But Silva scored back-to-back goals, the second coming with 5:21 left, to put the Indians in front, 9-8. Burroughs continued the fourth-quarter surge with two more unanswered goals by Orozco and Sanchez to increase the lead to 12-9 with 4:09 remaining.
Glendale finally answered back with a goal by Amanda Briones (team-high three goals), but Burroughs tallied the final two goals to win the quarter, 6-1, and the game.
