Rivalry streak halted
LUTHER BURBANK MIDDLE SCHOOL — It took a decade of waiting, but it finally happened.
On Thursday, the Burroughs High girls’ soccer team did something none of its recent predecessors could.
And it wasn’t any old win against any old team. That’s not the case when Burroughs and Burbank square off in Pacific League action.
Burroughs senior forward Amy Lopez scored the game’s only goals in a 2-0 shutout at Luther Burbank Middle School, giving the Indians a win they said they’d relish.
The victory allowed the Indians (10-5-4,10-2-2 in league) to finish second in the Pacific League behind champion Crescenta Valley.
Burbank (7-1-6), despite just one league loss, finishes in fourth place in league.
Immediately after the game, Burroughs Coach Louie Binda got a Gatorade bath, Lopez was raised in the air by her teammates and the Indians shouted in celebration.
“You have no idea,” Binda said of beating Burbank for the first time since 2001. “It feels great.”
“We finally did it,” Lopez said with a grin. “I haven’t won against Burbank since we’ve been playing. Amazing. This is what we play for. This game. The rivalry.”
The mood on the Burbank sideline wasn’t as jovial.
“They outplayed us,” Bulldogs Coach Loi Phan said. “It was as simple as that. I think it was right from the get-go. The energy on their side was probably way more than ours. We stood and hung around and fought. I don’t think it was our day.”
Binda agreed with that notion: “I think we wanted it more than they did. Those kids, they just played their hearts out.”
Lopez got the Indians’ offense rolling in the seventh minute of the match when she kicked in a goal that came to rest in the left side of the net. Freshman Maria Gomez assisted on the play.
In the 18th minute, Lopez found the back of the net again when she crossed over, shed a defender and kicked the goal through with her left foot.
“Their defender fell down and she burned her,” Binda said.
It was all Burroughs —which forced its fifth straight shutout — needed.
“The defense all year has been our anchor,” Binda said. “We attacked enough to take the load off our defense.”
Both teams each took seven shots in the game. Katie Beattie had three second-half penalty kicks for Burbank, but the Bulldogs couldn’t capitalize.
“It’s tough to score on them,” Phan said.
Burroughs senior Hallie White suffered an arm injury in the 24th minute when she collided with a Burbank player while trying to make a play on the ball.
She didn’t return and left the field later with her arm in a sling. White’s prognosis wasn’t immediately determined, but Binda said he thought her arm was broken.
Burroughs and Burbank split the season series, with the Bulldogs winning the earlier meeting, 1-0.