Burroughs Mixes Conventional Wisdom With a Bit of Firepower
Defense wins championships, the saying goes. And though the Burroughs boys’ soccer team is trying to prove that cliche correct, the Indians also had an offensive outburst Friday, defeating Saugus, 3-0, in a Foothill League match.
The Indians, league champions from 1993-95, slipped to third place last season, allowing Saugus to capture its first league title.
On Friday, Burroughs moved a step closer to reclaiming the throne, using stifling defense and skillful offense to move one game ahead of the second-place Centurions.
“We felt we needed to come out hard and fast and put in an early goal and we did that,” said Coach Mike Kodama, in his 10th year at Burroughs. “And then we kept the pressure up.”
In two other matches against Saugus this season, Burroughs posted a 1-0 victory and a scoreless tie. On Friday, the Indians held high-scoring forward Jeff Hammond (24 goals) to two shots on goal.
“I woke up this morning thinking there was no way they’d shut me down but they did,” Hammond said. “I don’t know why, but we came in overconfident and thinking we’d win because we were at home. That first goal took us out of the game.”
The Indians (13-5-2, 5-0-1 in league play) opened the scoring in the fifth minute after Miguel Meneses booted a corner kick into the Saugus penalty area.
The ball struck a body and caromed toward midfield, but Roman Browne executed a bicycle kick with his back to the goal, knocking the ball to Gary Guenther, who scored from five yards.
Saugus (14-3-3, 4-1-1) fell behind, 2-0, in the 37th minute. Meneses, a senior forward, beat defender Seth Groller down the left side and scored from 10 yards by striking the ball with the outside of his right foot.
Meneses scored his 15th goal of the season, in the 49th minute, kicking a high, 40-yard shot that caught goalkeeper Jason Berriz far away from the net and descended just under the crossbar.
