Burroughs boys’ soccer ends tournament on positive note

Taking part in an early morning match, the Burroughs High boys’ soccer team looked to get on track from the start of the contest.

Burroughs got exactly what it needed with a first-minute goal to end the Crescenta Valley Winter Classic on a positive note.

Junior forward Elias Galaviz scored 40 seconds into the contest and later added two assists to help propel Burroughs to a 3-1 win against Hawthorne on Monday in a consolation match at Crescenta Valley High.

The contest began at 9 a.m. and Galaviz had no trouble getting on track early, as he took a pass from junior midfielder Sebastian Reinoso and scored on a partial breakaway against Hawthorne goalkeeper Kevin Hernandez.

“I actually like playing in the morning because you can think about the game right away,” Galaviz said. “You’re locked in and you know what you need to do.

“It helped to score the early goal and it helps set you up the rest of the way. I saw an open lane and thought the goalkeeper would come out. He didn’t come out and I did what I was supposed to do.”

Hawthorne (1-13-1) tied it at 1 on a penalty shot in the ninth minute by senior midfielder Cristian Martinez that eluded Burroughs goalkeeper Hyatt Entz. The Cougars were awarded the penalty shot after the ball struck a Burroughs player in the hand just inside the box.

Burroughs (4-5-2) regained the lead in the 17th minute when Galaviz made a nifty pass to senior midfielder Juan Carlos Rosales, who scored to give the Indians a 2-1 advantage.

“We didn’t put our heads down after they scored on the penalty shot,” Rosales said. “We were able to take a chance after they scored and were able to convert.”

Burroughs, which advanced to the tournament championship match last season against Birmingham, closed out the scoring in the 74th minute.

Senior defender Joseph Soto headed in a cross from Galaviz to make it 3-1 and give the Indians a 1-2-1 mark in the tournament.

“We got a lot done,” said Burroughs first-year coach Mitchell Kodama, who took over for his father, Mike. “We scored early and then they scored on the PK, so we are back to square one.

“I thought we did a good job to get the lead back and go from there. Elias was excellent today and he was on the ball and made some good passes that led to goals. Playing in this tournament will help us because we played some quality teams and that will help us the rest of the way in league.”

Entz, a senior finished with five saves. Hernandez had four saves for Hawthorne.

Burroughs began the tournament Thursday with a 1-1 pool-play tie against Birmingham. Burroughs suffered a 2-0 loss to Valencia Valencia on Friday before concluding pool-play with a 3-1 defeat versus Sylmar on Saturday.

Burroughs will return to league action with a home match against Pasadena at 3:30 p.m. Friday. Burroughs (2-0-1 in league) won the league championship last season.

“It will be good to go back to playing league games now,” Galaviz said. “We want to be able to come together and gain some momentum so we can try to win league again.”