It has been 26 long years since the Burroughs High girls’ soccer team won a league title. But after winning the Foothill League title in 1993, the Indians can now call themselves Pacific League champions.
Burroughs defeated visiting Burbank High 5-1 Thursday in the regular season finale at Memorial Field.
“This wasn’t in my sights at the beginning of the year,” Burroughs coach Brady Riggs said. “We were just playing pretty good (early in the season) and I said we’re pretty good. Then everyone just stepped up and kept making plays.”
Crescenta Valley, which was tied on points with Burroughs entering the match, tied Arcadia 0-0 resulting in the Indians winning the league title outright.
“We all we were number one, but we thought we were going to have to share it with CV. It is so nice,” Burroughs senior Abbie Riggs said. “They held a high line on us because they know we are technical so we just bounce it through the middle and work out the lines.”
The Indians (15-3-2 overall, 12-1-1 in the league) scored their first three goals by beating the offsides trap.
Lauryn Bailey got things started in the eighth minute when she took a through ball and put it to the right of Burbank goalie Ashley Im.
The Indians doubled their lead in the 23rd minute when Lily Gonzalez broke free and was able to beat Im in a foot race to the loose ball. She was then able to put the ball into the empty net.
Burbank (3-15-1, 3-10-1) got its first shot goal on the 37th minute when Emma Molloy took a shot that was saved by Burroughs goalie Kaylin Casper.
After Burroughs led 2-0 at halftime, Gonzalez scored her second goal in the 42nd minute in the same fashion as she had done previously.
The Indians added a fourth goal in the 44th minute when Abbie Riggs fired a shot from the edge of the box that went past diving Im.
Bailey scored her second goal in the 61st minute by putting back a shot from Riggs that was pushed away by Im.
I’m was impressive in allowing the sixth goal on two occasions in the 66th minute when she made diving saves to deny both Bailey and Riggs.
I’m also made a fine foot save against a shot from Megan Schmidt in the 67th minute.
Burbank got on the board in the 71st minute when Johana Faraj put in a beautiful header off a corner kick from Isabel Partida as she perfectly placed the ball in the lower right corner of the goal.
“She made me cry,” Burbank coach Pablo Diaz said of the goal by Faraj.
