BURBANK HIGH — In years past, when they were members of the tough Foothill League, the annual Burbank and Burroughs girls' soccer matches usually carried no playoff implications.
Even when the rivals played early in the season, they usually faced one another with no chance at making the CIF Southern Section postseason.
However, Friday's Pacific League contest was different. The Bulldogs and Indians came into the match with three league wins each, and both were gunning for playoff spots.
Although a 2-0 win by Burbank doesn't knock Burroughs out of the playoff picture by any means, it did, however, put the Bulldogs in the driver seat as far as controlling their own postseason destiny.
"We want to get to the playoffs, that was one of our key goals this season," said Burbank Coach Loi Phan, whose team improves to 10-1-2, 4-1-2 in league. "We have to stay focused if we want to make it to the playoffs."
Neither the Bulldogs or the Indians (3-4, 6-9-0) have made the playoffs for a number of years. However, both have enjoyed turnarounds this season.
"We usually get more opportunities to score than we did against Burbank," Burroughs Coach Elias Garcia said.
"But I take my hat off to Burbank. They played well and they were the better team today."
Both teams struggled in the first 20 minutes of the first half, as neither could muster any scoring opportunities.
However, that changed in the 21st minute. Bulldog freshman Ashley Ortiz got her team on the board with a header on a throw-in by Kristina Amela.
However, after the initial goal, the Bulldog offense went dry. It missed on numerous opportunities, hitting two posts and kicking the ball over the crossbar three times.
Burbank did get an insurance goal in the 64th minute on a free kick from Natalie Burns.
"Soccer is strange because you can dominate a game, and then lose on one mistake," Phan said. "We really needed that second goal to take some of the pressure off."
The Bulldog defense and midfield, spearheaded by Alyssa Meredith, Melanie Fielder, Allyson Burns and Cindy Agullion, helped set the pace of the match and it quelled many potential scoring opportunities by the Indians.
The best shots by Burroughs were turned in by Alyssa Zeigler and Marina Pedone. However, both were turned aside by Burbank goalkeeper Jenna Todd.
