By Rick Assad
Two superb Pacific League boys’ water polo programs jumped into the swimming pool and challenged each other across four quarters on Thursday afternoon at the Glendale Aquatics Center.
After Burbank snared a one-goal advantage in opening quarter, the Bulldogs took a four-goal lead at the intermission and proceeded to outscore the Nitros 8-5 in the second half and galloped to a 17-10 victory.
Senior utility Gevorg Choginyan paced the visitors with a team-best five goals including three tallies in the first half.
Senior utility Alex Vardanyan was next in line for the Bulldogs with four scores, with three tallies in the second half.
Sophomore center defender Avvo Ilangesyan drilled three goals for Burbank with all scores coming in the opening half as the Bulldogs (7-5 and 1-0 in league) forged ahead 9-5.
Not to be overlooked, senior goalie Christian Lazaryan also played well for the Bulldogs.
Glendale’s August Kalaba knocked down a match-high six goals, and four of the tallies were made in the first half.
“It was a hard-fought win. I see a team that’s getting better and better as each game goes along,” Burbank coach David Arakelyan said. “I really liked how patient we were on the offensive end.”
Arakelyan was also impressed with the explosive six-goal second frame.
“That run in the second quarter really helped us take a big advantage,” he said. “We just need to play a consistent brand of water polo for four quarters.”
Burbank, which outshot Glendale 18-16 in the first half and 34-31 overall, scored the first two goals in the opening frame as Ilangesyan found the range from seven feet with 5:05 left for a 1-0 lead.
Choginyan nailed a nine-footer with 4:02 on the clock for a 2-0 edge and when junior driver Jack Babelyan scored from 10 feet and 2:52 left, Burbank led 3-1.
After the Nitros (10-3 and 0-1 in league) opened the second period with a goal from Kalaba from 10 feet with 6:45 left that evened it at 3-3, Burbank scored five straight tallies.
They were a 10-footer from Choginyan with 4:43 left for a 4-3 lead, Ilangesyan’s close-range dagger thirty-one seconds later made it a 5-3 cushion.
Choginyan added a 12-footer with 3:35 on the ticker for a 6-3 margin and Vardanyan knocked in a point-blank shot with 2:54 on the clock and a 7-3 lead.
Senior center Avet Avetisyan chimed in with a follow-up rebound goal and 2:26 remaining for an 8-3 lead.
The Nitros scored two of the three goals to end the half, but Ilangesyan’s eight-footer with 1:48 left made it 9-4.
Burbank tallied four goals in the third frame with Vardanyan scoring from five feet and 5:08 for a 10-5 lead. Vardanyan tacked on a short attempt with 2:53 left for a 12-6 edge.
Babelyan tossed in a seven-footer with 3:33 left for an 11-6 lead and junior driver Greg Baboudjian found the back of the net with 1:20 left for a 13-7 lead.
In the fourth frame, the Bulldogs tossed in four goals, and they came with 3:38 left from five feet by Vardanyan for a 14-9 lead.
Choginyan’s five-meter penalty goal with 3:26 left saw Burbank’s cushion become a 15-9 margin.
Burbank’s last two goals were scored by Choginyan from seven feet with 2:08 left for a 16-10 lead and Edgar Norentsayan’s five-footer with 24 seconds remaining that gave Burbank a seven-goal lead.
Kalaba found the net on a five-meter penalty throw with six seconds remaining in the first period that shaved Burbank’s lead to 3-2.
Kalaba added a five-meter penalty shot with 2:13 left in the second period that cut the lead to 8-4 and chimed in with a 35-foot toss and 1:08 left that trimmed the lead to 9-5.
Kalaba’s six-footer with 1:51 remaining in the third stanza narrowed the Bulldogs’ lead to 12-7 and Kalaba’s five-meter penalty toss with 6:27 showing in the fourth period trimmed Burbank’s advantage to 13-8.
Burbank didn’t play a perfect match, so there’s room for improvement.
“Now it’s about patching up the little mistakes defensively and making sure we’re ready to go next time out,” Arakelyan said.
