By Rick Assad
Try as they might, the Burbank High girls’ soccer team couldn’t quite figure out how to stop or even slow down Temple City’s Azalea Mata, who simply ran wild on Tuesday afternoon at Kemp-Kallem Field.
Every goal was tallied by Mata, a junior and they were done in impressive fashion as she knocked in five goals for a 5-0 victory in a nonleague match.
The Rams led 1-0 on Mata’s 27-yard kick in the 22nd minute and a minute later the margin became 2-0 on Mata’s 20-yard blast.
Mata drilled a goal from 23 yards in the 27th minute for a 3-0 lead and when she found the back of the goal on a relatively short 15-yard boot in the 34th minute the advantage ballooned to 4-0.
Mata wasn’t done scoring as she banged home a winner in the 41st minute for a 5-0 lead on a 23-yarder.
Mata, who is exceedingly fast and uses her quickness and speed to get past a defender or defenders was simply to guile and speedy to be stopped.
Once she gets clear of the defender, the goalie is seemingly at Mata’s mercy because she doesn’t know where the ball will be placed.
Dennis Leon is Burbank’s head coach and understood the challenge his team faced.
“Yeah, that was a tough one. Azalea had a great game – her pace and decision making really caused problems,” he said of the match and the star of the match. “She found gaps in our shape, and we didn’t adjust quickly enough to slow her down.”
Sophomore Adele Ellis led off with a 35-yarder that missed in the first minute for the Rams and a minute later Mata missed from 25 yards.
Temple City’s Jordyn Williams missed a 23-yarder in the third minute, and Mata also missed the mark in the fourth minute on a 27-yarder.
The Bulldogs (3-1-1) had back-to-back attempts in the fifth minute by freshman forward Sofia Martinez from 15 yards and by senior midfielder Emily Taghon off a corner kick in the seventh minute.
The Rams (1-0) then took seven attempts and three were goals but aside from the goals, they came from Ellis in the eighth minute on a 20-yarder, Grace Ward on a 25-yarder in the ninth minute and Ellis in the 16th minute from 25 yards.
In the 26th minute, Ward drilled a 20-yarder that was off target.
Taghon had a kick in the 30th minute from 15 yards and in the 38th minute on a 20-yard attempt from Burbank junior defender Valarie Barragan and from Taghon on a 23-yarder in extra time.
In the 48th minute, Mata missed from 25 yards and Burbank’s senior defender Delilah Williams was unsuccessful from 20 yards in the 54th minute.
Temple City’s Sarah Cruz, a junior, added a 20-yarder in the 56th minute and in the same minute Cruz kicked a 20-yarder that missed.
In the 60th minute, Martinez hammered a penalty kick from 20 yards that came awfully close as it hit the crossbar.
Mata’s 10-yarder in the 64th minute failed and in the 72nd minute Temple City’s freshman Sophie Lau missed on a 15-yarder.
Martinez failed to locate the back of the goal in the 75th minute from 20 yards and in extra time senior Julia Casper missed on a short penalty kick.
Leon knows that this is just one match and that his squad is good and ready to battle.
“For us, it comes down to tightening our defensive organization and staying more disciplined as a unit,” he offered. “We’ll address it in training and make sure we’re sharper next time out.”
