Bochard shines as Burbank girls’ soccer shuts out Hoover in league opener

Glendale — As a sophomore, Kira Bochard garnered notice for her scoring ability, as she led the Burbank High girls’ soccer team with 20 goals while earning All-Area honors.

A season later, Bochard is continuing to shine, scoring five goals in just three matches.

Three of the junior’s goals came in Tuesday’s league opener against host Hoover.

Bochard had both of her team’s goals in the first half and the Bulldogs’ first goal of the second stanza as her third career hat trick led Burbank to a 5-0 victory.

PHOTOS: Burbank shuts out Hoover, 5-0

“She’s a club player, she’s fast and she’s good,” Hoover Coach Sarah Strange said. “I hate that we have to play Burbank this early.”

The Tornadoes (1-2-1, 0-1 in league) and Bulldogs (2-0-1, 1-0) will meet in the second league match for both teams at 3:30 p.m. Friday at Burbank High.

Strange knows her team needs to do a better job at slowing down Bochard. Few teams have been able to stop her, though.

“Kira is one of our top returners,” Burbank Coach Erik Montoya said. “Kira, Ryan [Verhoeven, Burbank’s returning assist leader] and Adrianne [Sarukhanyan, an all-league returner] are going to be dynamic.”

Verhoeven, who had 19 assists and 11 goals last season, scored Burbank’s fourth goal of the match Tuesday at the 58-minute mark and Sarukhanyan capped the scoring two minutes later on her second shot of the afternoon.

“We worked the ball and possessed the ball well,” Montoya said. “They connected on their passes really well.”

Burbank dominated the time of possession and the shot statistics.

The Bulldogs had 26 shots, including 14 on goal, to Hoover’s one. The Tornadoes’ only shot came in the 73rd minute when Paulina Torres fired a shot from 30 yards out that went wide left of the goal.

“Our team is suffering from injuries and illnesses,” said Strange, who received nine saves from sophomore goalkeeper Jazmine Martinez. “We have one starter [captain Remi Miller] out with the flu and another starter [defender Radha Jagasia] out for several weeks, too. Our bench is not very deep. Without those girls, it’s tough. It’s a tough start for us.”

Tuesday’s match was a near-perfect start to league for a Bulldogs squad that is looking to challenge Arcadia, the reigning league champion, and Crescenta Valley, which shared second place with Burbank last season, for league supremacy.

“We have a chance of winning league, if we take advantage of our scoring opportunities,” Bochard said. “Our returners have enough experience. We work hard and communicate.”