Dogs Go COLD in CIF Defeat

GIRLS’ WATER POLO: Long drought opens the door for La Cañada as Burbank falls in playoff quarterfinals, 6-2.
By Jeff Tully
Published:Tuesday, February 24, 2009

BURBANK HIGH — When the Burbank High girls’ water polo team scored the first goal of its playoff match with La Cañada, the Bulldogs probably figured there would be a lot more of the same. Unfortunately for Burbank, that wasn’t the case. In fact, the Bulldogs embarked on a monumental drought and weren’t able to tally another goal until midway through the fourth quarter. With the Bulldogs going cold, the Spartans stepped up; playing solid defense and getting key goals in a 6-2 CIF Southern Section Division IV quarterfinal win Saturday for La Cañada at Burbank.

“Our shots were definitely off in this game,” Burbank Coach Carlos Pelayo said. “We had trouble with our shooting for sure.“But that’s indicative of the way La Cañada plays. They play very good defense and that was big for them.”The loss ends the most successful season in Burbank girls’ water polo history.

The Bulldogs (20-10) not only won the Pacific League championship for the first time this season, but they also made it to the CIF quarterfinals for the second consecutive year. Pelayo said his players have a great deal to be proud of this season. “I told them that this one loss shouldn’t overshadow all the other positive things they have accomplished this season,” said Pelayo, whose team was the fifth seed. “I also told them that they shouldn’t hang their heads. They played as hard as they could against La Cañada.

”Burbank received a goal from Alex O’Connor and one from Amnerlynn Ullo. The No. 4-seeded Spartans (26-6) were able to dominate play after falling behind in the match’s opening moments. The team was paced by Berit Kaesler, who tallied a match-high three goals. Teammate Shannon Streeter added two and Riley Kessley had one. Burbank played well on defense to open the match, and when O’Connor scored on a tip-in with 5:55 remaining, the Bulldogs had a positive start. However, what followed was a long dry spell for the Bulldogs. They converted just one of 11 shots in the first half and were just two for 25 in the match.

The Spartans went to work, scoring the next three consecutive goals to take a 3-1 lead after one quarter. The Bulldogs were unable to score in the second and third quarters, as La Cañada took a 5-1 lead into the fourth quarter. The Spartans’ Kaeslar scored at the 4:35 mark in the fourth quarter to give her team a commanding 6-1 lead. Finally, after a scoreless drought of 23:16, Burbank scored its second goal of the match on a five-meter penalty shot by Ullo.

“La Cañada is just one heck of a team, and they gave us a lot of trouble,” Pelayo said.“But I have to give my girls credit for not giving up and not backing down, Even when they went down by [five], they never gave up. They were in there battling to the end.”