Crescenta Valley boys’ soccer shades Burroughs, wins outright league title
BURBANK — Dallas Kaauwai had never recorded a hat trick while playing for the Crescenta Valley High boys’ soccer team.
That changed dramatically Friday with plenty at stake.
Kaauwai scored three goals, including the match-winner with about three minutes remaining, to propel Crescenta Valley to a 4-3 victory against Burroughs at Memorial Field and an outright league championship.
Kaauwai, who joined the Falcons last year, had two second-half goals to cap a solid outing by Crescenta Valley (16-4-2, 11-0-1 in league for 34 points) against pesky Burroughs (13-8-1, 7-4-1 for 22 points).
“It feels so good to get three goals, but it’s even better to get the three [league] points because we wanted to win league so badly,” said Kaauwai, a senior midfielder. “It’s always hard to play here against a good team like Burroughs, so we knew we had to be ready right away and I think we played solid.
“We wanted to come here and wrap up league and it was a very physical game. It kind of felt like a playoff game.”
Kaauwai gave the Falcons, who clinched a share of their first league title since 2012 on Tuesday, a 4-2 lead with a lined shot inside the left post in the 77th minute. Burroughs, which is tied for second with Arcadia, closed out the scoring on a header by Xavier Iniguez with 10 seconds remaining.
It certainly wasn’t easy for the Falcons, who won their 12th match in a row and are ranked third in CIF Southern Section Division III.
“We had to work hard at it to earn this win,” Crescenta Valley coach Grant Clark said. “There were great goals scored by both sides and it’s always tough playing Burroughs.
“I thought we were ready to play on the bus ride here. You could see how the guys were up and they wanted to respond and get the league championship on their own. Burroughs is no slouch.”
Burroughs, which suffered a 4-0 defeat against Crescenta Valley on Jan. 12, certainly wasn’t.
The Indians took a 1-0 lead on a header by Manny Gonzalez off an indirect kick by Esteban Alcantar in the 17th minute.
Crescenta Valley tied it at 1 on a goal in the 25th minute by Kaauwai off an assist from Kyle Quesada.
The Falcons made it 2-1 on a goal by Ayden Blackwood off an indirect kick from David Villaseñor with about three minutes left in the first half.
Gonzalez knotted it at 2 on a beautiful volley in the 49th minute before Kaauwai gave Crescenta Valley a 3-2 lead in the 60th minute.
“I thought we played a lot better today compared to the first time we played CV,” said Burroughs coach Mike Kodama, whose team won league last season. “That’s what we’ll take from today and keep it going into next week and into the playoffs.
“We were on more even footing and it was really a playoff-caliber game. I’m just glad that we battled the whole way through and gave ourselves a chance.”
Burroughs senior defender Jonathan Ortega agreed.
“There are some positives we can take away from here in that we had some good scoring chances and we held our own against a good team like that,” Ortega said.
Crescenta Valley and Burroughs have two league matches remaining. The Falcons will be at home against Hoover on Tuesday before finishing at Arcadia on Thursday. The Indians will host Muir Tuesday and crosstown rival Burbank on Thursday.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
