By Rick Assad
There were several elements involved in Tuesday night’s clash between host Burbank High and Camarillo in a CIF Southern Section Division III second-round boys’ water polo playoff match at the Burroughs pool.
It was well-played by each, and it was physical and there was scoring and defense. It had everything and it was close.
The No. 8 seeded Bulldogs led from start to finish and weathered a third quarter offensive lull but still defeated the No. 1 seeded Scorpions 13-10 behind a six-goal effort from junior Avvo Ilangesyan.
In the third match of the season, Camarillo defeated Burbank 20-17, and this could be seen as a revenge match.
In an opening-round match, Burbank defeated host Agoura 13-9 and will play this Friday in a semifinal match.
David Arakelyan is Burbank’s head coach and wanted his club to give full effort.
“I couldn’t be prouder of my boys coming back and beating a team that beat us very early in the season,” he said. “It was to a point where we looked like we had no chance the first time around and this time we led the entire game so I couldn’t ask for more growth from my players. I’m just excited to see what the next couple of games hold for us.”
It was crucial that the Bulldogs get off to a strong start.
“I thought we came out really well in the first half which is exactly what we wanted to do,” he said. “We wanted to set the tone early and make sure that we weren’t playing catch-up throughout the entire game, but we slipped up in the third quarter and made some very fundamental rookie mistakes that cannot be made at this point in the season.”
Another key member was Burbank goaltender, Dion Keshishyan, who had 17 saves.
“Hats off to Dion for playing an outstanding game. We needed every single one of those saves in order to beat the No. 1 seed,” Arakelyan said. “So I’m proud of the boys and can’t wait for the next round.”
Senior Michael Bakrgyan added four tallies for Burbank (14-13), which led 4-2 after one quarter and 8-3 at halftime.
Camarillo (15-13) outscored the hosts 4-1 in the third period and tallied four goals in the fourth quarter while limiting the visitors to three goals.
Renny Owings was brilliant for the Scorpions as he scored a match-best seven goals including four goals in the third frame that trimmed the lead to 8-4 with 6:01 left, 8-5 with 5:21 on the clock, 8-6 with 3:40 showing and 8-7 with 1:32 remaining on the ticker.
Owings also added two tallies in the final quarter that cut the advantage to 10-8 with 5:40 left and 12-10 with thirty-three seconds on the clock. Owings had a tally that sliced the lead to 3-2 with 1:22 left in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs led 1-0 on a five-footer from Ilangesyan with 5:18 remaining and 2-0 on an eight-footer by senior Daniel Babelyan with 4:34 left.
Ilangesyan’s nine-footer with 2:16 remaining made it 3-1 and Bakryan’s 12-footer with ten seconds on the clock extended the lead to 4-2.
Burbank scored four straight goals and led 8-2 as senior Michael Bakrhyan nailed a seven-footer with 5:03 and senior Jack Babelyan canned a 12-footer with 3:30 on the clock to make it 6-2.
Ilangesyan added back-to-back goals and they came with 2:03 left to make it 7-2 and with 1:01 remaining for an 8-2 edge.
Ilangesyan’s five-footer with forty-six seconds in the third period handed the Bulldogs a 9-7 edge.
Senior Daniel Babelyan hit a 12-footer with 6:34 left in the fourth period for a 10-7 lead and Ilangesyan slipped in a 10-footer with 5:13 remaining for an 11-8 cushion.
Bakrgyan then tacked on two goals, and they were a 10-footer with 2:25 on the clock for a 12-7 lead and a 15-footer with seven seconds left for a three-goal cushion.
Mac Barlow had a goal with 4:19 left in the initial frame that cut the lead to 2-1 for the Scorpions and added a tally in the fourth period and 3:36 left that made it 11-9.
Camarillo’s Christian Minero scored with seven seconds left in the second period that made it 8-3.
