Canyon, Burroughs Play It Even in Foothill League Opener

Kevin Stone dribbled around a defender and scored from a sharp angle, high inside the near post, lifting Canyon High into a 1-1 tie with Burroughs on Tuesday in a Foothill League boys’ soccer opener at Canyon.

Stone’s improbable shot, which caught goalkeeper Raul Meneses of Burroughs off-guard, came eight minutes into the second half of a showdown between teams which have dominated league play in recent seasons.

Canyon won the league title last season, its first since 1990-91.

Burroughs has six league championships this decade.

With the emergence of Hart this season, Canyon and Burroughs figure to be in a three-team title race.

Canyon, with superior talent, could not capitalize on its skill advantage. Burroughs, with only five seniors on its 21-player roster, could not hold a 1-0 halftime lead.

“This was frustrating,” said John Robb, Canyon coach. “When we keep the ball on the ground, we’re twice as good as Burroughs, but in the air we’re mediocre.”

Indeed, the undersized Indians played the Canyon to a draw in the air and didn’t commit the many mental mistakes they recently made at the Hart tournament.

“These guys work hard but they only think [about positioning] about 90% of the time,” said Mike Kodama, Burroughs coach.

“The other 10% is costing us victories.”

Burroughs took the lead on Brian Criscuolo’s 10th goal in the 19th minute. Criscuolo, a converted defender playing in the central midfield, finished off a flurry of four shots and three saves by goalkeeper Matt Jordan of Canyon with a 10-yard shot.