Burbank scores big win against Glendale

Hamlet Nalbandyan

It must be nice to play lethargically and still win, 19-4.

But that was Burbank High girls’ water polo Coach John Abdou’s

take on Tuesday’s season opener against host Glendale. Abdou wasn’t

trying to be cocky, just honest.

Because the fact of the matter was the Bulldogs could have

performed just that much better had Glendale given them more of a

challenge.

“I want my team to play every [match] as if it were a big

[match],” said Abdou, whose squad outscored Glendale, 12-0, in the

second and third quarters to put the nonleague match away. “But it’s

easy to lose focus when you’re not playing against one of the top

teams, and our girls have to learn to not fall into that trap.”

Burbank led just, 5-2, after the first quarter, but it didn’t take

long before the match got out of hand, thanks mostly due to

Glendale’s inexperience in the pool.

“It shows you what happens when you have kids that don’t show up

for summer workouts,” said a disappointed Alfred Tamazyan, Glendale’s

head coach. “We just weren’t ready.

“You could very easily say that this is a rebuilding year, but I

don’t like saying that because I expect more from my team. We’ve got

a lot of work to do, both the girls and I. It’s up to me to get this

turned around, and that’s why I’m taking the blame for this.

“But I think we’ll be all right. This was a good learning

experience, and we’ll bounce back from this.”

Burbank peppered Glendale goalkeeper Tara Carpenter (11 saves)

with a flurry of shots, as eight Bulldogs scored goals. Most of the

goals came uncontested, after Glendale’s defenders were slow to get

back, giving Tamazyan more reasons to frown.

Evelyn Setaghian led the way with five goals for Burbank. She also

had three steals, as the Bulldogs finished with 22 as a team.

Catalina Casas, Amy Moran and Jessica Ullo each finished with three

gals for Burbank, and Glendale’s Crystal Lim led her team with three,

as well.