By Austin Green
Burbank Leader
The Crescenta Valley High School girls’ soccer team overcame a halftime deficit to beat Burroughs, 2-1, in a match with playoff implications on Tuesday.
Chloe Ataya and Ashlin Cuesta each scored for the Falcons, who remained a perfect 6-0 in Pacific League play.
Meanwhile, the Bears dropped to 4-2 in their six games this season, all of which have come in league play.
After controlling possession for much of the first half, CV broke through after intermission. Senior co-captain Kaisa Lindman Marshall found Ataya with a perfectly placed cross pass that Ataya placed in the right side of the goal to tie the game at one.
The Falcons kept the pressure on and had some chances to take the lead, but Ataya missed a shot wide right and had another blocked by Burroughs goalkeeper Kailyn Casper, and Lindsey Furstenburg’s header attempt on a corner kick sailed over the goal.
The Falcons finally broke through when a breakaway through pass from Ataya set up Cuesta one-on-one with only Casper between her and the goal. Casper made the only move she could, undercutting Cuesta to secure the ball but it set up a penalty kick. Cuesta looked left and kicked right, faking out Casper just long enough to line the ball into the back of the net.
Burroughs got on the board midway through the first quarter thanks to a breakaway goal from Lily Gonzalez off a through pass from Lauryn Bailey. It was Gonzalez’s first shot of the game and only Burroughs’ second shot after CV had kept the ball on the other side of the field for much of the early part of the game.
“Lily always does a good job at getting those breakways,” Burroughs head coach Robert Sanchez said. “She’s got such a big heat map and we can always count on her to do something like that.”
Both teams had several more opportunities to score before halftime, but neither could capitalize. Bailey had two shot attempts sail wide of the goal and another two, including a free kick, cleared by CV keeper Audrey Brown. Gonzalez attempted to add to her total with some more breakaway attempts but could not get either of her shots on goal past Brown either.
On the other side of the field, CV forced three corner kicks in the first corner alone, but Burroughs’ back line cleared one and Casper saved the other two. The Falcons got some other good looks from Cuesta and fellow senior Dana Ryan, but Casper and Burroughs’ back line, led by senior captains Jesse Virtue and Gabby Morales, held firm.
The Falcons played second-place Arcadia on Thursday to determine the Pacific League title, while Burroughs played archrival Burbank.
