By Rick Assad
Strong winds were blowing and they made for a cold and blustery afternoon but the swimming pool was nice and hot and so was the Burroughs High girls’ water polo team which jumped out to an early lead and was never headed when facing visiting city rival Burbank.
Behind four players scoring two goals in a Pacific League battle, the Bears pushed aside the Bulldogs 10-2 on Tuesday afternoon before a lively crowd.
Morgan Wright, Ava Tomlinson and Derrika Berenguer all scored twice in the initial seven-minute period as Burroughs led 6-0.
Wright’s 12-yard toss with 6:39 made it 1-0 and Wright’s seven-yarder with 4:21 pushed the lead to 4-0.
Tomlinson’s eight-yarder with 5:25 left in the period made it 2-0 and Tomlinson’s seven-yarder with 42 seconds remaining made it 6-0.
“I think as a team we all were able to really get in the game. Nerves were a little high before the game but we got in the pool and knew what we had to do,” said Tomlinson, a junior and the team’s leading scorer during the season. “We played our own game and we were able to capitalize and play in sync as a team which I’m really proud of.”
When Berenguer scored with 4:56 left from nine yards the advantage ballooned to 3-0 and Berenguer’s seven-yarder with 3:13 on the clock saw the Bears’ sprint to a 5-0 cushion.
Olivia Dominiguez and Ana Zubkoff both scored solo goals in the second quarter as the Bears (8-11 and 5-2 in league) led 8-1 at halftime.
A five-yard throw from Dominguez with 5:59 made it 7-1 and Zubkoff’s eight-yarder pushed the advantage to 8-1.
Tomlinson enjoys these rivalry matches because they are always exciting and usually competitive.
“Personally, this game was a really fun one for me,” she noted. “Rivalry games are always fun. I’m proud of my performance and just glad I got to have fun with my team and the seniors on Senior Night.”
Siahni Suarez found the back of the net from five yards in the third quarter as Burroughs extended its margin to 9-1 as thirty seconds remained.
Suarez added a seven-yarder with 3:26 left on the ticker in the fourth period as the Bears jumped ahead 10-2.
Burbank’s Lizzie Bislamyan broke the Bears’ scoring skein with 6:18 left in the second period on a six-yard throw that cut the lead to 6-1.
Burbank first-year coach Hayk Minasyan was proud of the effort from his team.
“We had a rough start to our game, getting six goals scored against us in the first quarter,” he said. “We started picking up our game in the remaining quarters but couldn’t finish our shots. If we stopped them in the first quarter and finished our shots this game should’ve went differently.”
Kristina Khamtrashyan’s 14-yarder with 4:11 remaining in the fourth stanza for the Bulldogs (5-13 and 2-5 in league) trimmed the Burroughs lead to 9-2.
