But, Pasadena is currently embroiled in a player-eligibility controversy, which may result in a forfeit of all the Bulldogs’ wins, pending an official CIF verdict.
That would put the Nitros back in the hunt.
Monday’s match put Glendale back in the pool, where it had not spent much time in the past week due to residual air-quality effects of the Southern California wildfires.
“It’s great to come up with a win,” Glendale Coach Bob Zirovich said. “Last week, we couldn’t get into the pool as much as we wanted to and that definitely affected us — we looked very rusty out there.
“We’ll have to do better if we’re going to put on a good show for league finals [today].”
Glendale shot out to a three-goal lead over the Tornadoes (1-6 in league) in the first four minutes of the game.
An opening goal from Vinny Agemian, followed by consecutive tallies from Vahe Karimian, put the Nitros up 3-0, but Hoover would quickly catch up.
Back-to-back goals from Zorre Karibyan, both assisted by Arman Agopian, cut the deficit to one goal at the 2:30 mark.
The Nitros’ Arman Galstyan then scored on a pass from goalkeeper Andrew Hunter before teammate Vaspur Ovasapyan followed with a tally of his own.
But, Hoover would end the first period down just 5-4 after Tigran Edinchikyan scored on a 6-5 man advantage with nine seconds left.
Despite being badly outplayed in transition in the second quarter, Hoover stayed within striking distance. Agemian put the Nitros up 11-8 with deep straightaway shot in the last 10 seconds.
