Crescenta Valley girls’ soccer wins wild one against Burbank

Burbank —  Both Burbank High and Crescenta Valley were unbeaten in Pacific League play going into their girls’ soccer match.

In a wildly high-scoring affair Friday afternoon, Crescenta Valley used a dominant second half to seal a comeback 7-5 victory over host Burbank, handing the Bulldogs their first defeat of the season.

“I think we finally figured out it takes grit to win at Burbank and so the girls muscled one out,“ CV Coach Tyraysha Peterson said.

Crescenta Valley (4-4, 4-0 in league) was locked in a 3-3 tie at the break before surging ahead on the strength of a second-half hat trick by freshman Brianna McReynolds.

“It’s my third hat trick of high school,” McReynolds said. “But I couldn’t have done it without my friend Rachel [Bird]. She is always passing me the ball and I appreciate it.”

McReynolds gave the Falcons their first lead of the contest in the game’s 55th minute. The freshman attacked with the ball down the left flank before cutting inside to unleash a shot that rocketed into the back of the net for a 4-3 advantage.

In the 64th minute, Bird scored her second goal of the contest to push the advantage to 5-3. The senior collected a pass over the top from Cassidy Lewis before dribbling in deep down the left and sending a shot across the face of the goal that Bulldogs goalkeeper Nicole WInters got a hand on but could not stop.

One minute later, McReynolds struck again for a 6-3 cushion, marking the peak of the Falcons’ advantage. The freshman once again found success attacking down the left side of the pitch, finishing with a powerful shot despite close coverage by a Bulldogs defender.

“This is a tight field so the middle is never open, so the sides are where you need to attack,” Peterson said. “That pulled through for us and Bri sure has a lot of speed up top.”

It was an especially bitter defeat for Burbank (4-1-2, 3-1), which had built a two-goal advantage in the first half before surrendering the next five goals.

“We blew a two-goal lead,” Burbank Coach Eric Montoya said. “It was poor defense, that is all. Defensively we were absolutely terrible. We didn’t communicate in the back. ... It was one of the worst losses I’ve ever had.”

The five goals allowed by Crescenta Valley matched a season-high, while the seven given up by Burbank were far and away a season-high as it had previously relinquished a high of only two goals.

The teams combined to score three goals in the game’s final four minutes. The first came off the foot of Burbank’s Kira Bochard for her second goal. The junior dribbled down the right side, creating space so she could loft a shot over the CV keeper and in.

“I’m kind of disappointed,” Bochard said. “The fact that we were up 3-1 and then we just lost it and regressed. We really need to work on that and our defending to keep strong throughout the game.”

However, less than a minute later, the Falcons answered with McReynolds completing her hat trick by once again exploiting the right side of the Burbank defense. The final goal of the game came in the 79th minute, when Bulldog Amanda Kim broke through two defenders to knock home a goal and set the final margin.

“Once we started scoring more, I think it picked up our attitude,” McReynolds said. “We got more positive and felt like we could win. Three-3 at the half was kind of hard on us, but we picked it up.”

Burbank struck first, taking the lead in the game’s sixth minute. Daniela Yanez took a throw-in deep down the right side and threw the ball on a line just in front of the goal. Bochard arrived just as the ball did, to head it into the net and take the lead.

Just two minutes later, Bird notched the equalizer. The senior got free with the ball behind the defense on the left side and then cut the ball in, bringing the goalkeeper out before slipping a shot in near post.

Burbank scored the next two goals to go ahead 3-1. The first was a chip shot from about 30 yards out by Bulldog fullback Melanie Tirado in the 11th minute. Adrianne Sarukhanyan scored the next one off an assist by Kim.

After that, CV came storming back. In the 31st minute, Bird took a free kick 18 yards away on the left. Her shot was going into the upper corner of the far post, but Winters leaped up to bat the play away. However, the ball rebounded to the feet of Lauren Cota, who scored from in close.

In the 39th minute, Bird took a corner kick that she bent into the goalmouth. Winters once again got two hands on the ball to make the initial save, but the ensuing rebound fell to Cassidy, who tied the score at 3.

“We knew we needed to win this game to maintain forward momentum,” Peterson said. “I guess what we take away from this is it’s an 80-minute game. It’s never over till it’s over.”