Defense leads Burroughs water polo in rare shutout against Arcadia

BURROUGHS HIGH — The Burroughs High girls’ water polo team was able to accomplish a rare feat Tuesday afternoon in its Pacific League opener against Arcadia.

Behind a spirited defense effort, led by goalkeeper Ahsha Earwood and defender Aliya Ehde, the Indians didn’t allow a goal in the match.

Although their offense started slowly, the Indians were able to pick up the pace and the end result was a 9-0 victory at home.

“We wanted to come out super strong in this game and show the rest of the league what we’re made of,” Burroughs Coach Danny Garcia said. “The girls know how important it is for us to win every single game in league. We really want to have a strong showing in league.”

If Burroughs (8-7) continues to get strong efforts from Earwood, that might just be a possibility. The senior keeper, who was a CIF Southern Section Division V All-CIF honoree last season, was a force in the cage against the Apaches. She ended the match with 14 saves.

“It was the defense that really helped me out,” Earwood said. “Aliya has really come through for us and we pretty much base our entire defensive scheme around her. She really does a good job at running the defense for us.”

While Earwood helped keep the Apaches off the board, Arcadia didn’t do itself any favors as well, sputtering on offense. In the match, Arcadia wasn’t able to convert any of its 27 shots. In addition, it also couldn’t score on six man-advantage situations.

Both teams struggled on offense early, as Burroughs took just a 1-0 lead after the first quarter on a goal at the 2:05 mark by Bailey Simmons.

“We just had some bad passes early on, and that’s something that we’ve struggled with in games and in practice,” Garcia said. “We have to do a better job at passing. But once we got over that, I thought we started to play better.”

Burroughs received two goals each from Simmons, Sierra Marroquin and Yesenia Esparza.

After having just a one-goal lead after the first quarter, the Indians stepped it up in the second, scoring three times to take a 4-0 advantage into halftime.

It was a defensive battle in the third quarter, as neither team was able to score. Arcadia had more scoring chances in the stanza, but missed all eight of its shots.

The Indians began to hit their stride in the fourth quarter, scoring five goals, as many of the Burroughs bench players were able to get in on the action.