By Rick Assad
An early first quarter lead evaporated but a late rally in the fourth period made it somewhat interesting for the Burroughs High boys’ water polo team in a Pacific League match versus host Hoover.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Tornadoes took out the Bears 15-10 despite allowing six goals in the last frame.
Nicolas Oporta, who led the Bears (3-8 and 0-2 in league) with four goals, had three tallies in the fourth quarter and Lucas Spratt, a junior varsity player who was called up to the varsity, accounted for two goals in the final period.
Armen Tarakhchyan and David Tarkhchyan each powered in five goals for the Tornadoes (9-7 and 2-0 in league).
The pair combined for six of the nine goals in the second half as the hosts outshot the visitors 19-13 over that stretch. Hoover outshot Burroughs 32-26 overall.
Robert Tovmasyan added two goals for Hoover with one coming in the third and fourth periods.
The score after one period was 2-2 and 6-3 in favor of Hoover at the intermission. The Tornadoes marched in front 11-6 after three frames.
Martin Ortega Jennison is the Burroughs head coach and saw his team fight throughout.
“I liked that we battled through all four quarters. Even though we made mistakes, we responded well but just staying in it and made adjustments and learned a little,” he said of the match. “We definitely had more opportunities in the second half to show some growth.”
Burroughs’ Nicola Nasev scored from seven feet with 5:01 left in the fourth period that cut the lead to 12-5.
Oporta added a clever follow-up from five feet with 4:13 left making it 12-6.
Oporta’s five-footer with 3:27 remaining sliced it to 13-7.
When Oporta nailed a 12-footer with 1:49 left on the ticker, the Bears came within 14-8.
Spratt’s 12-footer with 1:49 on the clock sliced the advantage to 14-9 and Spratt’s 14-footer narrowed the margin to five goals.
In the opening frame, Matthew Rodriguez slipped in a seven-footer as 5:23 was left for a 1-0 advantage.
When Nasev found the range from 16 feet and 4:00 left on the clock, the Bears pulled ahead 2-0.
The Bears’ only goal in the second period came from Lincoln Morrow as 7.8 seconds remained and the visitors trailed 6-3.
The lone goal in the third frame for Burroughs came with 3:10 on the clock as Oporta unloaded a short toss that trimmed the lead to 8-4.
Armen Tarakhchyan’s five-foot goal with 2:19 left in the first period cut the lead to 2-1 and David Tarkhchyan’s five-meter penalty toss with 12.9 seconds remaining evened it at 2-2.
With 4:48 left in the second period, a 10-footer from Arthur Tarkchyan saw the Tornadoes dash ahead 3-2.
Armen Tarakhchyan’s point-blank shot thirty-nine seconds later made it 4-2 and with 2:59 left Tigran Gharibyan’s 10-footer increased the lead to 5-2.
David Tarkhchyan’s tally with 1:49 remaining in the first half made it 6-2.
The Tornadoes outscored the Bears 5-1 in the third period as Arthur Tarkhchyan drilled a 10-footer with 5:32 left for a 7-3 cushion and Tovmasyan added a 12-footer with 4:20 remaining for an 8-3 cushion.
David Tarkhchyan tossed in a five-meter penalty throw with 2:58 remaining on the ticker for a 9-4 lead.
Armen Tarakhchyan threw in a seven-footer with 1:06 left for a 10-4 advantage and David Tarkhcyan had a breakaway tally with 37.5 seconds left for a seven-goal margin.
In the fourth period, Armen Tarakhchyan had a five-foot goal with 3:48 left for a 13-6 lead and added a seven-footer with 33.8 seconds left that made it 15-9.
Tovmasyan’s five-footer with 5:20 remaining made it 12-4 and David Tarkhchyan’s six-footer with 2:12 on the clock made it 14-7.
