By Rick Assad
A good beginning was followed by a poor middle and a late rally by the Burroughs High girls’ water polo team in a Pacific League match versus visiting Arcadia on Thursday evening.
In the end, the hole that the Bears were in was too deep and too much to recover from and lost 16-10.
The Bears (2-6 and 1-1 in the league) trailed 2-1 after the first period, were behind 7-5 at halftime, and 14-6 at the end of the third quarter.
Arcadia outshot Burroughs 24-22 overall and had 13 shots to 12 attempts in the second half.
Senior guard/center Ava Tomlinson scored a team-best four goals for the Bears, and they were tallied in the second and fourth quarters.
“It was a tough match and definitely wasn’t our greatest. We struggled to find our rhythm and just play how we know how to play,” Tomlinson said. “We are ready to look past today and use it to get focused and ready for our game tomorrow and the rest of the league.”
Burroughs junior attacker Lauren Chaparro added two goals, and four players scored one goal.
Olivia Ocampo set the tone for the Apaches (11-4 and 2-0 in league) with six goals as scored three goals in the first half and three goals in the second half.
Tomlinson’s follow-up tally from seven feet and 4:52 left in the second period tied it at 3-3 and Tomlinson’s goal with 3:54 remaining on the clock in the same period vaulted the Bears ahead 4-3.
Tomlinson went back to work in the fourth frame as she scored from 12 feet and 1:46 left that sliced the lead to 16-7 and Tomlinson added a short attempt with 32 seconds left that saw Burroughs get within 16-10.
Chaparro’s 12-footer with 5:04 left in the first period evened it at 1-1 and Chaparro’s 10-foot toss and fifty-six seconds left in the match trimmed Arcadia’s advantage to 16-9.
Junior guard Bonnie Kretzmann’s goal from 10 feet with 6:21 left in the second period leveled it at 2-2 and a tally from senior attacker Gigi Janczewski with 2:38 on the ticker in the same frame handed the Bears a 5-4 cushion.
Junior attacker Derika Bergenguer’s point-blank range goal with 4:13 remaining in the third quarter lowered Arcadia’s lead to 10-6 and junior attacker Bella Matossian’s short shot and 1:32 left in the fourth quarter cut the Apaches’ lead to 16-8.
Ocampo’s five-footer and 6:21 left in the opening frame made it 1-0 and Ocampo’s goal with 2:12 left in the second period tied it at 5-5.
Ocampo’s shot from point-blank range and 1:05 remaining in the second quarter gave the Apaches a 7-5 lead.
Ocampo scored two goals in the third period, and they came with 6:44 left on a 12-footer that made it 8-5 and with 1:03 remaining on a five-footer that extended the advantage to 14-6.
Ocampo’s final tally came with 6:37 left in the fourth quarter on a short attempt that made it 15-6.
Zoe Lue added four goals for the Apaches including two in the third period that gave Arcadia a 12-6 lead with 2:07 left and 13-6 with 1:33 remaining.
Arcadia’s Addie Garcia also chimed in with four goals that included two in the second period that saw the Apaches pull ahead 3-2 with 5:49 left and 4-4 with 3:41 on the clock.
