Burbank boys’ soccer still trying to figure things out after loss

SOUTH PASADENA — Midway through the second half of a match between the boys’ soccer teams from Burbank and South Pasadena highs, the Bulldogs defense over-pursued, leading to an easy Tiger goal.

During the restart, Burbank Coach Loi Phan spoke with defender Raymond Shideler about what happened on that play. It was another teachable moment.

“Right now it’s the beginning of the season,” Shideler said. “The defense is still trying to figure out how we’re going to play our defense. Whenever they score a goal, we just take it as an opportunity to try and figure out our defense, what we did wrong, and how we can communicate better to figure out next time.”

Tuesday’s nonleague road match at South Pasadena provided plenty of opportunities to learn. The Tigers defeated Burbank, 6-0.

While there’s no getting around getting shut out while losing by six goals, the Bulldogs can look toward some silver linings. South Pasadena was a highly-touted playoff team last year with a number of returners, while Burbank has only three returning seniors. Further more, after the Tigers scored four goals in the first 25 minutes of play, the Bulldogs played well defensively, with only a pair of lapses in the second half.

“We regrouped and played,” Phan said. “I told them this is probably one of the best teams you’ll play all year.”

South Pasadena’s Jordan Jackmon scored twice in the victory.

Another item keeping Burbank from reaching its full potential is that three defenders recently joined the squad from the football team, which had a deep run in the postseason that prevented those players from practicing. Monday was the first full team practice since the end of football season.

“They’re not use to playing soccer,” Phan said. “This is a round ball. It’s going to take us a few games to get going.”

One of those football players is Herry Avetisyan, a junior who plays midfield for the soccer team.

“It’s hard with the stamina,” said Avetisyan, an all-league kicker who helped the Burbank football team to the CIF Southern Section Northeast Division semifinals, where it lost Friday to La Serna, 28-21.. “I haven’t ran that much. Going from football to soccer is way different. It’s a completely different game.”

The loss drops Burbank to 0-2. The Bulldogs fell to Flintridge Prep in a nonleague contest, 1-0, last week.

Shideler is one of Burbank’s three returning seniors and a team captain.

“It’s a very young team,” Shideler said. “We’re all just going to have to figure it out together.”