CV spurt sinks Indians

BURBANK HIGH — Hoping to simply limit rather than stop top-seeded Crescenta Valley High, the Burroughs High girls’ water polo team accomplished its goal fairly well for three quarters of Wednesday’s Pacific League Tournament first-round match.

But a seven-goal outburst by the Falcons in the second quarter negated a close first quarter and kept the fourth-seeded Indians from ever closing the gap in the second half, as Crescenta Valley coasted to a 16-4 win at Burbank High.

Kim Fraisse scored six goals to lead a Falcons team that garnered a plethora of shot attempts on a near constant counter attack.

“Overall, I think we played a good, solid, balanced game, [but] I think we could be a little bit more efficient shooting wise,” said Crescenta Valley Coach Pete Loporchio, whose team fired 40 shots. “We certainly had lots of opportunities, countered very well and played good halfcourt defense. It’s a good start.”

The Indians were not the only local team that struggled in its preliminary match, as No. 3 Burbank fell to No. 2 Pasadena, 11-1, on Wednesday.

“We didn’t really go into this game expecting we were going to win it,” first-year Burroughs Coach Danny Garcia said. “We just wanted to stay close and get whoever was the loser of the [Pasadena-Burbank] game and stick it to them.

“[The Indians] played super hard and they didn’t stop the whole time, so I was really proud of them.”

Burroughs, which received three goals from Samantha Buliavac and one from Ally Syverud, weathered a barrage of 11 first-period shots from the Falcons to stay within 4-1 going into the second.

Indians goalkeeper Savannah Simmons notched four of her nine saves in the opening quarter to anchor a good defensive effort, but the Falcons defense was better.

Crescenta Valley, which is ranked fourth in CIF Southern Section Division IV, took advantage of seven steals to control the action and get goals from Fraisse (two), Christine Cho and Julia Warden, who finished the game with two apiece.

Fraisse opened the second quarter by overpowering Buliavac for a steal, which she took straight to the cage for an easy goal. She then found herself open on the weak side for a pass form Warden to put the Falcons up, 6-1 and spark a 7-1 run for the quarter that included tallies from Rachel Krebsbach, Stefanie Loporchio and Kristina Molder.

Claire Nolan also scored two goals for the Falcons.

Fifth-seeded Glendale notched a 12-4 win over sixth-seeded Arcadia earlier on Wednesday.

In a third-place match Thursday, Burbank defeated Burroughs, 13-3, to secure the league’s No. 3 spot. The Indians finish fourth.

Both squads earned spots in the postseason, shich opens next week.