Burbank girls’ water polo works overtime to get season-opening victory
BBURBANK — Lia Ebrahimi and Kristine Khachikian proved they could handle pressure situations during the season-opening match for the Burbank High girls’ water polo team.
Ebrahimi and Khachikian are two of three seniors on the squad who will be counted on to provide stability and leadership to the young Bulldogs squad.
The duo handled its respective roles well Monday, as Ebrahimi scored the winning goal and Khachikian stopped a five-meter shot in overtime to lead host Burbank to a 4-3 intersectional victory against Birmingham to open its season.
“We’ll definitely be counting on both of them,” Burbank Coach Allyson Young said. “We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores, so they can show the way.
“They both came up big when they had to.”
Ebrahimi scored the winning goal with 47.1 seconds left in the first of two three-minute overtime halves. Khachikian then stopped a five-meter shot by Erika Francisco with 1:31 remaining in the second overtime half.
Khachikian made another save with Birmingham on a man-advantage opportunity with 18 seconds remaining.
“It’s now or never,” said Khachikian, who stopped Francisco on a five-meter chance with 4:16 left in the fourth quarter. “Positioning means a lot in those situations.
“She looked one way and shot the other way [on the overtime five-meter shot]. I was nervous coming into the game and we were able to come out on top.”
Ebrahimi knotted the match at 3 with 2:45 to play in the fourth quarter.
“It was very stressful,” Ebrahimi said. “We were out to win it.
“It was an exciting first game. There were so many chances for both teams.”
Burbank opened the scoring on a man-advantage goal by Stella Aghakian with 2:32 left in the first quarter. The Patriots knotted the score at 1 on a goal by Jackie Mitchell with 1:23 to go in the opening quarter.
Lexi Lyneis gave the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead with 1:06 remaining in the second quarter. Burbank held a 2-1 halftime advantage.
Francisco tied it at 2 with 6:23 left in the fourth quarter. A minute after Khachikian (nine saves) stopped Francisco’s five-meter attempt, Birmingham took a 3-2 lead on a goal by Jaredd Franco.
“It was a nerve-wracking game,” said Young, who also coaches the school’s boys’ team. “Our defense stayed with it throughout the game and it’s something you can build on.”
Burbank will next compete in a nonleague home match against Flintridge Prep at 3:30 p.m. Dec. 1.
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Charles Rich, charles.rich@latimes.com
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich