By Rick Assad
No team wants to lose by an 11-goal margin, but that’s exactly what happened to the Burroughs High boys’ water polo team in its opening match of the season.
So it was imperative that in their next match, the Bears play well and with purpose and intensity and that’s exactly what they did on Tuesday afternoon in a nonleague match versus visiting South Pasadena.
Burroughs, despite being outshot 23-17, and also failing to score in the fourth quarter, knocked off South Pasadena 10-6.
Behind Lincoln Morrow’s match-best four goals, including three in the second frame, the Bears have evened their record at 1-1.
This match can lead to other bigger and better things for Burroughs, but only time will tell.
Martin Ortega Jennison was pleased what he witnessed against the Tigers.
“I liked that we pushed the pace when we needed to on the counterattack but didn’t force things,” he explained. “We remained patient and attacked where our advantages were.”
Ortega Jennison also spoke glowingly about the Bears defense.
“Defensively we did a great job with our press to force bad passes and allow us to drop back and steal possession away from them,” he said. “We still have a lot to work on, but our progression is on the up.”
In the opener, Burroughs was defeated by host Polytechnic 15-4, but in time this could be long forgotten as long as the Bears continue to rely on solid defense and balanced scoring.
Nicolas Oporta added three goals for the home team and three players each scored solo goals.
For the most part, the match was cleanly played and saw the score deadlocked 3-3 after the first quarter.
The match swung in favor of the Bears in the second period as they scored four goals while limiting the Tigers to a single tally.
The scoring began with 6:12 left in the first quarter as Oporta nailed a point-blank shot for a 1-0 lead.
With 4:41 remaining, Roan Kelly found the target on a 12-footer, and it became 2-1 in favor of Burroughs. Liam Wamester’s 10-foot throw and 4:01 left made it 3-2.
The Tigers were led offensively by senior Sven Leu and junior Ethan Cheng with two goals each.
South Pasadena (0-1) tied it at 1-1 on a 16-footer by Leu with 5:47 left and 2-2 by Cheng with 4:20 remaining on a 12-footer.
Leu’s nine-footer with 3:39 on the clock in the first frame leveled it at 3-3.
Morrow’s first goal in the second period came with 5:33 left on a 10-footer that evened it at 4-4.
Morrow’s second tally occurred with 3:13 remaining on a 12-footer that made it 6-4 and his third goal was a 14-footer with one minute left for a 7-4 lead at halftime.
Oporta added a point-blank tally with 5:01 left on the clock as the Bears pulled ahead 5-4.
Oporta’s 15-footer and 6:38 left in the third stanza made it 8-4. Morrow contributed an eight-footer with 4:23 showing for a 9-5 edge and Rocco Quiroga launched a 25-footer with one second left that increased the cushion to 10-5.
Cheng’s 10-foot toss and 5:33 left on the scoreboard cut the Bears’ advantage to 8-5.
South Pasadena sophomore Mateo Salas capped the scoring from nine feet out with thirty-six seconds remaining that sliced the Burroughs advantage to 10-6.
