Burroughs girls’ water polo tops Glendale, advances to league title match
ARCADIA —Burroughs High girls’ water polo coach Jacob Cook wanted to see some improvement with respect to his team playing tighter defense.
With the Indians in position to contend for a Pacific League championship and the playoffs on deck, Cook got exactly what he wanted Tuesday after second-seeded Burroughs posted a 10-6 victory against third-seeded Glendale in a league tournament semifinal at Arcadia High.
“We know we can score goals, but we needed to make some adjustments with the way we play defense,” Cook said. “I think we played very strong defense today and we’re going to need to continue doing that. We have a shot to win league now.”
Burroughs (10-4, 6-1 in league) will meet top-seeded Crescenta Valley (23-4, 7-0) in the league title match at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Arcadia. Crescenta Valley registered a 19-7 win against fourth-seed Arcadia on Tuesday to earn a share of its ninth league championship in a row.
Burroughs broke open a close contest with Glendale (12-11, 3-4) by scoring five third-quarter goals to build an 8-5 lead. The Indians, ranked eighth in CIF Southern Section Division VI, and Nitros were tied at 1 after the first quarter and 3 at halftime.
“I think we did a real good job adjusting to Glendale’s offense compared to the first time we played them,” said Cook, whose team notched a 14-13 overtime win against Glendale on Jan. 20. “I think we had a much better idea of what to expect and we got some counter-attacks that led to goals today. Those are the kind of things we are looking for at this stage of the season.”
The Indians got a goal from Aleah Orozco with 1:11 left in the third quarter to make it 8-5.
Glendale could get no closer than 8-6 on a goal by Arpa Shahbazian with 6:36 remaining in the fourth quarter before Burroughs sealed the victory with goals 20 seconds apart from Bianca Sanchez (team-high four goals) and Orozco. Orozco’s scored on a five-meter shot with 3:41 to play.
“I think we just got tired and Burroughs seemed to want it more,” said Glendale coach Casey Sripramong, who got a goal from Jamie Fritz with 33 seconds left in the second quarter to tie it at 3. “ Burroughs just kept pushing. We’ll keep playing and continue building character.”
Burroughs got two goals each from Madeline Lingad and Orozco and one each from Gwen Turla and Sami Leano.
Glendale, which will take on Arcadia in the third-place match at 4:30 Thursday, received two goals each from Shahbazian and Fritz and one apiece from Anna Ter-Mkrtchyan and Liliya Ter-Barsegyan.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
