Indians regroup for win

BURROUGHS HIGH — Of all the winter sports, girls’ water polo starts Pacific League play the earliest, with teams competing in opening matches today.

To get his team prepared for league, Burroughs High Coach Carlos Ponce has had his players entrenched in competition. Last week, the Indians played seven matches, and this week they will play four.

Trying to get his young team the experience it needs, Burroughs took on Mark Keppel Monday in a nonleague contest at home. After falling behind early, the Indians stepped it up to earn a 7-3 victory.

Six Burroughs players scored in the win.

“We really need to get as many games in as we can,” said Ponce, whose team improved to 4-3. “We have such a small window before league starts; we have to play all these games in a short time.

“I’m hoping that all this competition is going to help us in our league.”

Burroughs, which didn’t qualify for the CIF Southern Section playoffs last season, begins league play at 3:15 p.m. today at Pasadena.

“Our first two league games are against Pasadena and Glendale,” Ponce said. “Those are two very crucial games for us if we want to get back to the playoffs. We are probably going to be battling with them for a playoff spot.”

Burbank wasn’t unfamiliar with Mark Keppel. In fact, the Bulldogs squared off against the Aztecs Saturday in the El Rancho Tournament. Burbank won, 6-1.

Having already beaten Mark Keppel might have played a part in the Bulldogs’ sluggish play in the first quarter of Monday’s match.

After Burroughs’ Christine Gasparyan scored at the 5:28 mark of the first quarter, the Aztecs tallied the next two goals to take a 2-1 advantage after one

“We did come out a little slow in that first quarter,” Ponce said. “I think part of that was our girls might have been a little confident having already beaten them.

“Also, our home clock wasn’t working for the entire game, and that probably threw them off. Being so young, they sometimes get confused.”

It was a different story in the second quarter, however. The Burroughs defense clamped down, as it didn’t allow a goal.

“After that first quarter, the girls relaxed, took a breath and focused on what they needed to do,” Ponce said. “After that, we played really well.”

In the second, Gasparian scored her second goal of the match to tie the score at 2.

The Indians kept up the pressure in the third, outscoring Mark Keppel, 3-1, on three straight goals by Ally Syverud, Jill LeDuc and Chloe Thorton.

Burroughs again shut out Mark Keppel in the fourth quarter, as it received goals by Elke Besvold and Sirun Gasparyan.

Thorton paced Burroughs with six steals. Syverud and Bianca Dekker added four each.