Burroughs boys’ water polo tops Valley View in CIF playoff opener
It took a little while to get going before the Burroughs High boys’ water polo team got on track.
Backed by an impressive defensive effort in the third quarter and a balanced scoring attack, Burroughs earned a 16-11 victory against host Valley View in a CIF Southern Section Division V first-round match Tuesday.
Burroughs (12-8) received six goals from Xavier Turla and four apiece from Ryan Jaramillo and Vahagan Sahakyan to upend Valley View (11-20).
Burroughs (fourth in the Pacific League) held a 7-4 halftime lead before blanking Valley View (second in Sunbelt League) in the third quarter.
“In the first half, we were mostly up by two goals and then we made some adjustments on defense in terms of who we needed to cover more,” said Burroughs coach Jacob Cook, who led the Indians to a Division V title in 2016. “We were able to stay ahead of them and get going on offense in the third quarter and were able to pull away.
“We lost in the first round last year and we didn’t want that to happen again. A lot of good things happened today.”
Burroughs held a 12-4 lead after the third quarter.
Burroughs starting goalkeeper David Karagezyan made four saves while playing the first three quarters. Reserve goalkeeper Arthur Eldridge made three saves in the fourth quarter.
The Indians led, 4-2, after the first quarter.
Burroughs will host a second-round match Thursday against Estancia or Marina, likely at 5 p.m.
“It will be great to be able to play a home playoff game,” Cook said. “It’s a very big thing when you can go on the road and win in the first round and then you get more confidence.”