Quick-striking Crescenta Valley girls’ soccer blanks Burbank
Entering their Pacific League contest Thursday, the Crescenta Valley High and Burbank girls’ soccer teams had identical league records.
When the Falcons and Bulldogs faced off in the first of two head-to-head meetings this season, it provided the squads an opportunity to move up in league.
Any suspense quickly dissipated, however, as Crescenta Valley scored seven first-half goals to earn a 7-0 home victory.
Crescenta Valley (3-2-2, 2-0-1 in league) had six players score at least one goal to make quick work of Burbank (1-1-2, 1-1-1). The Falcons scored all of their goals in a 27-minute span and limited the Bulldogs to just one shot on goal.
Crescenta Valley, which took second in league behind Burroughs last season, turned to its quick-strike offense and experience to turn aside Burbank.
“We have a lot of potential and we are seeing that each match,” Crescenta Valley coach Tyraysha Peterson said. “There are a lot of positives and we know we can work on other things.
“We are seeing improvement each game and we’ve done a lot of things well. We got some goals early today.”
Crescenta Valley took a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute on a direct kick from about 35 yards by Kathryn Thamasian.
“The kick was from the left side [of the field] and I wanted to try to go to the right side on the shot,” Thamasian said. “I felt relaxed when I took the kick, so that was a good sign and then it went in.
“I like the potential that we have and we are growing each game. To be unbeaten after three league games is very good.”
The Falcons took a 2-0 lead in the ninth minute on a goal by Rachel Park.
Crescenta Valley extended the lead to 3-0 on a goal by Julianna Cheney in the 11th minute and Ashlin Cuesta followed up with a goal about three minutes later to pad the lead to 4-0.
Nataly Serrano gave the Falcons a 5-0 lead in the 19th minute.
Kaisa Lindman Marshall made it 6-0 in the 28th minute before Serrano closed out the scoring in the 32nd minute.
Burbank coach Pablo Diaz said the Bulldogs, who were sixth in league last season, had difficulty trying to match Crescenta Valley’s speed and depth.
“Crescenta Valley has a lot of fast players and we got a little tired,” Diaz said. “They can throw three different lineups out there and it’s tough to stay with them at different times.
“We were missing some players coming into the game and we lost Karolyn Pimentel to an injury during warmups. We’ll just continue to move ahead and get better the next game.”
The Falcons and Bulldogs will compete against each other on Jan. 24.
