Burbank girls’ soccer shuts down Hoover in league play
GLENDALE — It’s been a bit of a struggle for the Burbank High and Hoover girls’ soccer teams during the first part of Pacific League competition.
After both missing the playoffs last season, the Bulldogs and Tornadoes have looked to get back on track and serve notice in league.
Burbank took a step in the right direction, getting a pair of first-half goals en route to a 2-0 league road win against Hoover on Friday.
Burbank (2-5, 2-3 in league) got one goal apiece from Erin Trainor and Madie Chase to turn aside Hoover (6-9, 0-5). The Bulldogs limited the Tornadoes to three shots on goal in the first of two head-to-head meetings.
“The connection throughout our team is better,” Burbank coach Pablo Diaz said. “We got better today from our last [league] game.
“This win today was tougher than our other league win [2-0 against Muir on Dec. 7]. It’s good to get out to that early lead and it played up our confidence. Hoover has a lot of speed.”
Burbank broke through in the 11th minute on a goal by Trainor, a sophomore forward who played center-back last season. Trainor got by a Hoover defender and scored against Hoover goalkeeper Chloe Britton Naime (eight saves).
“The ball came to me and i wanted to get a good touch on it,” Trainor said. “I just wanted to go for it.
“I think we are starting to connect better as a team. Some of the teams in the league have players who are always used to playing with each other. We’re trying to do that.”
The Bulldogs made it 2-0 on a 20-yard shot by Chase that went just inside the left post in the 32nd minute.
Hoover’s two best scoring opportunities came in the second half, both by Jazzmin Simmons.
Simmons was stopped inside the box by Burbank goalkeeper Ashley Im (three saves) in the 70th minute. Simmons then shot wide of the left post in the final minute.
The Tornadoes have yet to score a goal in a league match.
“We just didn’t play our best game today,” Hoover first-year coach Luis Ardiano said. “We can perform better and they know that.
“We’re confident that we’ll bounce back. We play our next game in two weeks, so we’ll have time to work on things at practice.”
The Bulldogs and Tornadoes will meet again Jan. 25 at Burbank.
Burbank and Hoover will next participate in league road matches Jan. 4. Burbank will be at Muir and Hoover will travel to face Arcadia, which won the Pacific League championship last season.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
