Glendale boys’ water polo buries Burroughs early

BURBANK — In the span of a minute and 46 seconds, Glendale High’s Arman Momdzhyan showcased just why he’s likely the most dangerous offensive weapon in the Pacific League. And along with that, the Nitros emphatically stated why they’re the top seed in the Pacific League Tournament and the top-ranked team in CIF Southern Section Division V.

In 1:46, Momdzhyan scored four consecutive goals, swelling an early two-goal Glendale lead to six over Burroughs and igniting a dominant Nitros performance, as they throttled the Indians, 19-9, on Tuesday evening at Burbank High in the semifinals of the league tournament.

“He’s insane. You can literally have two or three guys on him and he can still shoot the ball. There’s really nothing you can say, but he’s an amazing player,” said Burroughs Coach Danny Garcia of Momdzhyan, who tallied a team-high seven goals that all came in the first quarter. “[The Nitros] were on top of their game, they really were.

“They meant business today and there’s a reason they’re No. 1.”

Glendale, which improved to 18-5 overall and 7-0 in league, clinched its second outright league title, no matter the outcome of its league championship match on Thursday, when it will play Burbank (13-6, 5-2), which defeated Crescenta Valley, 10-9, in the other opening round matchup.

The Nitros blitzed the Indians (12-6, 3-4) to the tune of an 8-2 first-quarter lead and didn’t look back, taking a 14-4 lead into a second half in which Glendale Coach Forest Holbrook emptied his bench.

“That’s absolutely what we wanted. Our starters were able to go out and start strong and give us a lead and we were able to make substitutions and they were able to maintain the lead,” said Holbrook, who also got four goals from Manuk Piloyan and three apiece from Artak Arzumanyan and Levon Gevorkyan. “I’m extremely happy with how they’re playing right now. They seem to be doing everything right.”

Glendale, which has now won 15 straight league matches dating back to a loss in the tournament finals in 2010, got a lead just 17 seconds in on a tally from Momdzhyan. Thereafter, Burroughs had to pick its poison in terms of dropping down to contain Momdzhyan or trying to stop the accurate perimeter shooting of the Nitros.

In the first quarter, Momdzhyan was an ill the Indians couldn’t remedy.

“My teammates were getting me the ball wherever I wanted it. Perfect passes,” Momdzhyan said. “They let me go on the first couple of possessions and I finished.”

Momdzhyan didn’t score in the second quarter and it mattered not, as the Nitros were deadly from the outside, highlighted by Arzumanyan scoring three goals in a 4-0 run to start the quarter, as the Nitros’ lead swelled to 12-2.

Martin Chatalyan and Garret Fritz also had goals for Glendale, while David Tiraturyan had six first-half saves.

For Burroughs, lost in the blowout was a solid offensive performance from Danny Mairena, who matched Momdzhyan with seven goals, though he did it through four quarters of action. Joe Jacobson and Jeremy Trejo also scored for Burroughs.

Now, the Indians look to rebound against the Falcons.

“We’re gonna come out strong versus CV and show them what we’re actually made of,” said Garcia, whose team lost, 19-4, to the Falcons the first time around. “We’re gonna come out fighting. We want to surprise everybody.”

Glendale, which beat Burbank, 14-10, in the teams’ first meeting, is simply looking to keep rolling en route to accomplishing its lofty CIF playoff goals.

“We’re making our move toward CIF right now,” Holbrook said, “and the boys are starting to peak at the right time of the year.”