After a pair of consecutive losses the Burroughs High girls’ soccer team had no plans to go into the CIF playoffs with yet another setback.
So the Bears jumped all over rival Burbank early and then sat back and made a number of player substitutions in a 6-0 victory Thursday.
“Everybody made contributions. It was nice to see us play above the level of our competition,” Burroughs coach Brady Riggs said. “We’re ready for the playoffs. We’re a team that can do some damage.”
Burroughs (12-6-1 overall, 9-4-1 in league) scored four times in the first 15 minutes and then made sure everyone got a chance to play and many players experience playing in different positions.
Quiana Laughlin scored in the third minute on a pass from Graciela Gomez.
The Bears earned a penalty kick in the eighth minute that was converted by Julia Narmore.
Samantha Sizemore broke free in the 11th minute and around Burbank Sydney Evans-Armendariz before putting it into the empty net. Evans-Armendariz made a fine foot save on Sizemore’s shot in the 14th minute, but Jailyn Turner put home the rebound.
Sofia Samuelson added the fifth goal in the 26th minute as she took advantage of an error within Burbank’s defense.
The best chance Burbank (3-14 overall, 2-12 in league) received was a shot over the top cross bar by Maneh Nersesyan in the 32nd minute.
“A win against our rival gives us a huge confidence boost. We can utilize everything we worked on in this game for the playoffs,” Burroughs midfielder Kelani Roy said.
Burroughs added a goal in the 76th minute as Nadia Aguilar scored on a shot outside the box, as she followed up a shot by Nicole Jimenez that had been blocked.
Evans-Armendariz, who did a fine job for the Bulldogs, gave credit to Burroughs
“I feel like we had some moments of good connection, but they just beat us in speed and aggression and 50/50 balls, so we need to work on it,” the freshman goalie said.
Burbank had a chance to get on the board in the final moments of the game as Nersesyan corner kick went to the back post as she was looking for Emely Taghon.