Crescenta Valley boys’ soccer survives late surge by Burroughs
BURBANK — For the second time this season, the Crescenta Valley High and Burroughs boys’ soccer teams played in a close match.
But Tuesday’s rematch between the two squads was not a tight contest throughout, as the Falcons dominated much of the game and had a three-goal lead with less than 10 minutes remaining.
The Indians came back , however, and scored two goals on penalty kicks in the final nine minutes to shave the lead down to one. In stoppage time, Burroughs found the back of the net for what appeared to be the equalizer, but the goal was called off on a handball call and Crescenta Valley walked away with a 3-2 Pacific League victory at Memorial Field.
With the win, the Falcons (14-3-1, 5-1-1 in league for 16 points) elbowed the Indians (11-4-3, 5-2 for 15 points) out of first place. Crescenta Valley shares the lead with defending champion Pasadena (5-1-1 in league for 16 points), which defeated Glendale, 1-0, on Tuesday.
“Any time you walk on a field for a Pacific League match you know it’s going to be a battle,” said Crescenta Valley Coach Grant Clark, whose squad defeated Burroughs, 2-1, in the championship of the Crescenta Valley Winter Classic on Dec. 30. “We expect this kind of game from Burroughs every time. [Burroughs Coach Mike] Kodama always has a good group of guys and they work hard. When you come to Burroughs to play or when Burroughs comes to your place to play, you better be ready to play for 80 minutes.”
Tuesday’s win was the first for the Falcons in league play against the Indians since Jan. 11, 2013, breaking a seven-game league winless streak against Burroughs.
For 70 of those minutes Tuesday the Falcons gave the Indians all they could handle. With a backline spearheaded by senior Alex Atanackovic and junior Tomik Baghranian, Crescenta Valley afforded Burroughs precious few scoring chances and that helped the Falcons build an early lead.
The Falcons received a goal in the 24th minute from Baghranian off a throw-in by junior Zander Bakunowski and a goal by junior Dallas Kaauwai in the 36th minute off an assist from junior Chris Sanfilippo and went into halftime with a 2-0 advantage.
Crescenta Valley tacked on a goal in the 69th minute by senior Jonathan Han and the visitors were sitting pretty with a 3-0 lead.
“We knew this was going to be a fight,” said Crescenta Valley senior goalkeeper Luis Flores, who made six saves. “I’m just so lucky that I have the help of my guys back there. Truthfully, if it wasn’t for them, I would have to work a lot more. But they do such a great job and that makes my job easier.”
Things began to fall in favor of the Indians late in the second half. Junior William Rosales made good on a penalty kick in the 71st minute and senior Cameron Kelley converted a penalty kick with one minute left to get Burroughs to within 3-2.
Things got hectic in the final minute.
Burroughs was given a free kick deep in the Crescenta Valley third on the far left side. Kelley took the kick and angled it toward thee Falcons’ goal. There was a scuffle for the ball and a Burroughs player appeared to put in it for a goal. However, a handball was called and the goal was nullified.
“From where I was sitting, I really couldn’t tell,” Kodama said. “But if the ref calls something like that he just better be sure.
“It’s very difficult to come from behind, especially against a team like this. And you don’t come back from three goals down very often at all. … We were expecting a tough battle and obviously we got it.”
