Nitros lapse in second half of league opener

BURBANK — Despite the fact it hosted the match, the Burroughs High boys' soccer team was the focal point of a welcoming party to its new home on Wednesday night — the Pacific League.

The task of greeting the former Foothill Leaguers fell to Glendale High. While the Nitros would have liked nothing more than to initiate the Indians with a loss, it was Burroughs that notched a come-from-behind 3-2 victory.

"We make one mistake and we collapse," Glendale Coach Carlos Santiesteban said. "They tied the game, and instead of regrouping, we start yelling at each other.

"We get too emotional and let all the emotions come out."

Senior forward Michael Alvarado, who had two goals, scored the go-ahead goal on a pass from Miguel Mundo in the 71st minute of play. It gave the Indians a pefect league start and absolved goalkeeper Andre Yanez of two first-half miscues that led to the Nitros' goals.

"We wanted the boys to settle down and play the ball more on the ground, and we also emphasized to them to get the ball wider," Burroughs Coach Mike Kodama said of the adjustments that were made to wipe out a 2-1 halftime deficit. "I thought our forwards did a good job all night of pressing on the ball, and our two center backs did a really good job of leading in the back.

"It's just unfortunate for us that we gave up two goals."

The two goals scored by the Nitros (2-2-1, 0-1 in league), both out of corner sets, were essentially assisted by Yanez.

On the first, in the 13th minute, Yanez batted down the inbound kick from Elvis Torosyan. The ball, however, came to rest precariously in front of the goal, where an opportunistic Tigran Avagyan tapped it in for a 1-0 lead.

Burroughs (4-2-1) tied the match in the 27th minute on Alvarado's first goal of the match, a right-footed shot on a breakaway off a cross from Chris Hernandez over the right side of the field.

Yanez again inadvertently helped the Nitros when he knocked another cornerkick directly down and into his own goal in the 38th minute.

"It was a gut-check time for him," said Kodama of the sophomore goalie, who had 10 saves. "He had a very poor first half and he played very well in the second half. He made a couple of big saves."

The biggest save Yanez made in the second half was a block of a Glendale free kick in the 58th minute to preserve a 2-2 tie.

Just nine minutes earlier, Burroughs forced the tie on a free kick of its own. It came off the foot of senior defender Rudy Nava and into the right corner of the goal, just under sliding Nitros goalie Luis Martin, who had five saves.

Both teams engaged in the back-and-forth physical play that set the tone for the scrappy first half.

The Indians seemed to be the first to divert their focus from that and as a result gained an advantage over the second half.

Glendale will seek its first league victory on Friday when it hosts the other newcomer, Burbank, at 3:15 p.m. on Friday.