Burroughs boys’ soccer falls to Montebello in first round of CIF playoffs
Following a second-place finish in the Pacific League, the Burroughs High boys’ soccer team shifted its attention to the postseason and looked to make some noise.
Unfortunately for Burroughs, it ran into an opponent that plays superior defense and relies on its transition game to generate goals.
Burroughs mustered just two shots on goal and saw its season end with a 4-1 home defeat against Montebello on Wednesday in a CIF Southern Section Division III first-round match at Memorial Field.
Burroughs (12-8-4) yielded two goals about a minute apart, making it tougher to solve Montebello (17-5-5).
“They shut down our attack and it made it difficult to find our rhythm,” said Burroughs first-year coach Mitchell Kodama, who took over the program from his father, Mike. “We tried to make some changes and we got a little bit of a spark, but not quite enough.
“We did a lot of good things this season. It just didn’t go the way we hoped.”
Montebello dictated the pace of the match by neutralizing Burroughs’ forwards and clogging the middle of the field to prevent quality scoring chances by the Indians.
Montebello, which tied for first in the Almont League with Bell Gardens and Schurr, scored two goals within a minute.
The Oilers took a 1-0 lead when a corner kick by Luis Estrada hit a Burroughs defender in the foot and went past Indians’ goalkeeper Jacob Cardenas in the 28th minute.
Montebello made it 2-0 when Edgar Alegria whipped a shot just inside the box past Cardenas in the 29th minute.
“It was big to get those two goals,” Montebello coach Jesus Garcia said. “Right from that, the game changes completely.
“For our team, it’s a lot about being able to apply pressure and let the other team make the mistakes. That way we can take off with the play. We had to do a good job of marking their best players and I thought we did that very well today.”
Montebello extended its lead to 3-0 on a goal by Cesar Monsivais in the 49th minute.
Burroughs, which won the Pacific League championship in 2019, closed to within 3-1 on a penalty shot by Elias Galaviz in the 53rd minute that eluded goalkeeper Mark Gamez. The Indians were awarded the penalty shot when a direct kick struck the hand of a Montebello player inside the box. It was Burroughs’ first shot on goal in the contest.
It was Galaviz’s 17th goal of the season.
The Oilers closed out the scoring on a goal from Abraham Ramirez off an assist from Vincent Mendez in the 57th minute.
Burroughs junior forward Manny Gonzalez said the Indians couldn’t crack Montebello’s defensive coverage.
“Montebello did a good job and we just couldn’t get anything going,” said Gonzalez, who finished with 26 goals this season and is the program’s all-time leading scorer with 60 career goals. “I don’t think we played to our potential.
“It was a good season for us, but we wanted to go farther in the playoffs.”
