Burroughs water polo still looking for first win

Water Polo: Indians defeated by San Marino, but coach sees progress in performance.

December 12, 2013|By Jeff Tully, jeff.tully@latimes.com

(Roger Wilson Staff…)

BURBANK — Burroughs High's girls' water polo team played San Marino in a match earlier this season and the Indians were just no match for the Titans, who rolled to a 10-goal victory.

The Indians got a second crack at San Marino on Thursday in a pool-play contest in the Burbank Tournament.

PHOTOS: Burroughs vs. San Marino girls' water polo

Although Burroughs wasn't able to avenge the earlier loss, it did narrow the gap, as it suffered an 8-5 loss against the Titans.

This time around, the Indians (0-9) played the Titans (4-1) to a stalemate through two quarters. But San Marino was able to come on in the second half to secure the victory.

"The score from the first time we played them until now tells me a lot," said Burroughs Coach Michael Singhanate, whose squad was defeated in the tournament earlier Thursday by Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, 11-4. "To play them like we played them today is a big improvement. The team continues to get better and that's all we can ask of them."

Burroughs was shut out in the second half, as it endured a scoreless span of 12 minutes and 28 seconds after tallying its final goal of the contest with 28 seconds remaining before halftime.

The Indians came out energized in the first quarter and were able to tally two of the contest's first three goals. After San Marino went up, 1-0, Alliya Edhe scored with 4:21 left and teammate Kailee Groveman tacked on a score at the 3:18 mark to give Burroughs a 2-1 advantage.

Following a goal my San Marino's Kate Scannell, Burroughs went back in front, 3-2, following Groveman's second goal at the 1:33 mark.

Burroughs did dodge a bullet at the end of the quarter, as San Marino was awarded a five-meter penalty shot with no time left on the clock. However, Scannell missed wide left on the attempt.

"I know a lot of people view success as just winning," Singhanate said. "But I am a big advocate of personal improvement and I think we showed a lot of that today.

"We did have some problems with our offense late in the game, but we showed that we could play with a team like that."

In the second quarter, the Titans tallied two early goals to surge out in front. However, the Indians countered and tied the score at 4 on a goal from Cheyenne Morrison with 4:21 remaining.

Later in the stanza, when the Titans went ahead once again, Burroughs fought back when Hannah Porter made good on a man-advantage situation with 28 seconds left before the half, things were knotted at 5.

With the match tied heading into the third quarter, Burroughs was kept in the contest by the fine play of goalkeeper Kate Wilke (10 saves), who came up with several point-blank saves to stifle the Titans. San Marino was finally able to score the quarter's only goal at 2:05, and took a 6-5 lead into the final quarter.

Burroughs had five shots in the third quarter and seven in the fourth, but could not convert any of them into goals.

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