By Rick Assad
It was Senior Night at Moyse Field on the campus of Glendale High and while Saturday evening wasn’t spoiled entirely, it was just a little bit as Burbank and Glendale ended its Pacific League boys’ soccer match knotted at 1-1.
The Bulldogs started off the scoring with a tally from 35 yards, and the tally was kicked by junior Samvel Khachatryan in the seventh minute for a 1-0 lead.
The goal was set up beautifully as the Khachatryan was running full speed down the right side and then received the perfect pass.
The next goal didn’t come until extra time in the opening half by junior midfielder Erik Chatoyan with an assist from sophomore midfielder/forward Erik Tsaturyan that evened it at 1-1.
Erik Gharibian is the Burbank varsity head coach and thought the match would be close but believed his team should have won.
“In this game we for sure were the better team with more attacks and opportunities but we just couldn’t put more goals away,” he said. “Even today we had a beautiful goal to start the game and we’re pushing hard the whole time. Overall I was happy with the way we played but disappointed in the result.”
The match began with a kick from Burbank junior Eric Mkrtchyan in the first minute and was followed by a kick by senior Victor Chtryan off a corner kick in the same minute.
In the fourth minute, Khachatryan added a header and in the 14th minute Glendale’s senior forward/striker David Abramyan kicked one too far left.
In the 15th minute, Burbank senior Aram Hovanessian’s attempt struck the right post and the Nitros (8-6-4 and 5-4-4 in league) had a kick in the 16th minute.
Junior Arman Vardumyan had back-to-back kicks in the 18th minute and 37th minute for the Bulldogs (7-9-4 and 4-5-4 in league).
In the 38th minute, senior Diego Benis had a failed attempt for the Bulldogs.
Glendale saw junior fullback/defender Daniel Torres get off a kick in the 49th minute and Chatoyan added a boot in the 52nd minute that sailed wide left.
Senior midfielder/defender Marlon Saravia added a kick in the 61st minute for Glendale and freshman midfielder Hamza Saeed contributed a dribble off a 22-yard penalty kick that didn’t amount to much.
Burbank senior Raymond Soukiazian had a kick in the 65th minute and the Bulldogs had a header in the 73rd minute.
The last attempt came on a boot by Torres on a 45-yard free kick in the 76th minute.
