By Rick Assad
On one side of the pool, the Burroughs High boys’ water polo team boasted one loss in nine matches, while Notre Dame came in undefeated after six games.
Though ahead after the first quarter and halftime, the Bears were outscored 6-3 in the second half and fell to the Knights 11-9 in a nonleague encounter on Tuesday afternoon.
The Bears were led by senior Harrison Siegel’s three tallies and Nicola Nasev’s three goals.
Also finding the back of the net for Burroughs were senior Logan Turla who added two goals and Dean Yuzna who tacked on one goal.
On the plus side, senior goaltender Atticus Mata did everything in his power to keep Burroughs afloat against Notre Dame, which was led by Owen Levine’s match-best five goals that included three tallies in the second half.
In fact, Mata and Notre Dame goalie Sandro Changoshvili each performed marvelously as the pair turned away many shots that would otherwise have gone into the net.
Thomas Kirchner helped the cause for the Knights (7-0) with three goals including two goals in the second quarter.
Burroughs, which outshot Notre Dame 20-14 in the first half, seized command 2-1 after the first seven minutes.
“We were able to stay composed during the first half and play solid defense, sticking to our game plan and playing at our own speed,” Siegel said. “During the second half, however, we began to fall apart. We rushed passes on offense and didn’t communicate on defense, all leading to the loss of the momentum we had built during the first two quarters.”
Turla’s 12-foot tally with 5:56 left made it 1-0 and Turla’s toss from the same distance increased the margin to 2-0 with 3:45 on the clock.
The hosts added four goals in the second period and forged ahead 6-5.
Nasev’s eight-footer with 6:28 on the ticker made it 3-1 and Nasev’s 10-foot bullet with 5:03 left saw the Bears move in front 4-2.
Siegel’s two-meter penalty attempt was true with 4:31 on the clock as the Bears (8-2) cruised to a 5-2 edge.
Levine’s 10-footer with 35 seconds left in the first period sliced the lead to 2-1.
In the second frame, Kirchner delivered a seven-foot goal with 6:15 on the clock as Notre Dame came within 3-2.
Milo Pisarik’s goal for the Knights with 3:35 left narrowed the score to 5-3.
When Levine canned a five-meter penalty throw with 2:58 left, the lead was sliced to 5-4.
After Kirchner’s eight-footer with 2:08 remaining in the opening half, Notre Dame was within 6-5.
The Knights, who outshot the Bears 18-13 in the second half, played sticky defense over this section of the match and forced the Bears to take longer shots.
“Notre Dame is a solid team and it’s great that we are playing challenging teams to get us ready for the [Pacific] League,” Siegel noted.
The Bears scored the first and last goal of the third period as Nasev found the range from eight feet and 6:01 left for a 7-5 lead and Yuzna located the back of the net from 10 feet with 59 seconds on the clock that tied the match at 8-8.
In the same frame, Notre Dame’s Pisarik’s tally with 5:02 from close range cut the Bears’ advantage to 7-6.
Levine then added back-to-back goals and then came with 4:29 left from short range that leveled it at 7-7 and a five-meter penalty throw with 1:09 on the clock that gave the Knights an 8-7 lead.
Notre Dame outscored Burroughs 4-1 in the fourth period as Levine’s nine-foot toss and 6:45 remaining gave the visitors a 9-8 lead.
When Pisarik scored on a close-range attempt with three minutes left, the lead became 10-8 and Kirchner’s nine-footer with 2:18 left increased the margin to 11-8.
Burroughs drew within 11-9 on a 10-foot throw from Siegel twelve seconds later.
