By Rick Assad
Under heavy duress from an unrelenting defense, the Burroughs High boys’ water polo team couldn’t find its offensive punch and was thwarted 11-3 by Crescenta Valley on Tuesday evening in a Pacific League semifinal match at the Glendale High Aquatic Center.
The Falcons will meet Burbank, which won its semifinal game over Arcadia 10-6, on Thursday at the same pool for the title. The scheduled time is 6:45 p.m.
The Bears (14-13), who didn’t score in the second half, did get shots, but they were often off target.
Sophomore Nicola Nasev led Burroughs with two goals while junior Harrison Siegel added one.
Burroughs, which was also without one of its starters, junior Ian Duffield, was scheduled to meet Burbank.
“Their defense let us shoot, unfortunately missing a key starter today and having to shift game plans made it difficult, especially having three days to plan from originally playing Burbank to having to switch to CV,” Burroughs co-head coach Martin Ortega Jennison said. “We actually had some good looks on offense.’
Ortega Jennison added: “Defensively is where we lacked communication and confidence,” he said. “It was all around a tough matchup and we lost, but we will bounce back. Now we look forward to Arcadia on Thursday.”
Crescenta Valley coach Jan Sakonju was impressed on both ends of the pool.
“I loved the way they played defense today. They communicated with each other and had an awareness of where their key weapons were,” he noted of his squad. “We spent our pregame time before traveling down here going over the defense.”
Aaron Choi paced Crescenta Valley with four goals while Sebastian Rivera tacked on three.
Alex Movsesyan tallied two goals and Devin Janparian and Brayden Shabani each accounted for one goal.
“On offense they created some confusion and got the matchups they needed,” Sakonju said. “They put away their shots, which we have struggled with all year.”
Crescenta Valley outscored Burroughs 3-1 in the opening period and led 6-3 at the intermission.
Rivera’s 15-yarder with 5:11 left in the initial frame made it 1-0 and with 3:33 on the clock, it became 2-0 on a five-yarder from Janparian.
With 2:49 left the lead swelled to 3-0 on a point-blank range tally from Choi.
Burroughs ended the scoring drought when Nasev scored on a 10-yarder with 2:48 left that sliced the lead to two goals.
Movesyan’s five-yarder with 5:31 made it 4-1, but consecutive goals by the Bears drew the team to 4-3 as Nasev scored on a 16-yarder with 2:47 left. Siegel’s 15-yarder with 54 seconds on the ticker made it 4-3 in favor of the Falcons.
Crescenta Valley righted the ship as Choi’s close-range tip with 37 seconds left made it 5-3 and Movsesyan’s 25-yard moon shot with one second left in the half made it a three-goal lead.
The Falcons (16-15) knocked in two goals in the third quarter as Choi found the net on a three-yarder with 3;34 left for a 7-3 edge and Rivera’s five-yarder with 2:47 remaining made it a five-goal advantage.
Crescenta Valley added three tallies in the fourth period as Shabani’s point-blank range shot and 5:55 on the ticker extended the lead to 9-3.
Choi’s two-yarder and 2:24 left increased the lead to 10-3 and Rivera’s goal with 1:37 left gave the Falcons an eight-point cushion.
