Lady Bulldogs beat Hoover 2-1 and the Hoover Boys team came out on top 2-0 over Burbank

The Burbank Bulldogs soccer teams split the doubleheader with the Hoover Tornandos as the girls team came out on top 2-1 behind Jocelyn Morinaga’s two-goal performance and the Hoover boys squad defeated Burbank 2-0 with two second-half goals by Davit Tagovoryan. 

The girl’s game was played to start the double dip. Entering the mid-afternoon contest, Burbank came off a 4-1 loss to Muir and Hoover lost to Crescenta Valley 11-0 this past Saturday. After missing a chance atl goal in the 5th minute, Jocelyn Morgiana got the Lady Bulldogs on the board first in the 24th minute to put Burbank ahead 1-0 over Hoover. The Lady Tornados had chances to score in the opening half but did not capitalize. Violet Isavi, Katie Coppersmith, and Amanda Laguna all missed goal chances in the 17th, 24th, 26th, and 32nd minutes respectively which kept Hoover off the scoresheet heading into halftime. 

The Lady Bulldogs had a golden chance to go up 2-0 to start the second half but Sophie Leon’s shot at goal hit the crossbar in the third minute of play. Amanda Laguna scored a clutch 30th-minute goal to tie the game at one and made it a new game for both teams. When the Lady Bulldogs thought they would end the game in a tie, Morgiana came through in the clutch with a go-ahead goal in the 33rd minute to put Burbank up 2-1 over Hoover. 

Nicole Hatamian recorded two saves and allowed two goals in net for Hoover and Natalia Cortez recorded five saves and allowed one goal in net. “For the most part, we executed our game plan to attack Hoover’s game plan but we still need to tweak it just a bit,” said Dennis Leon. Leon admitted that Jocelyn Morgiana hustles so much and also said people need to be on the lookout for her when asked about her two-goal performance. 

“The girls played really hard, we had our opportunities to get going offensively but in the end, the ball did not bounce our way,” said Adam Coppersmith. Coppersmith mentioned that Amanda Laguna’s game-tying goal in the second half was outstanding and it was set up perfectly for it to happen. 

Burbank improves to 6-5-2 overall and 1-4 in Pacific League play and Hoover drops to 4-9-1 overall and 0-4 in Pacific League play. Both teams will return to action on Thursday, January 30th as Burbank will host CV at 5:00 p.m. and Hoover will play a road game with Pasadena at 3:45 p.m. 

The boy’s game concluded the doubleheader in the SoCal cold. Burbank was fresh off a 0-0 draw to Muir and Hoover lost 1-0 to Crescenta Valley this past Saturday. Davit Tagovoryan had a real chance to put the Tornandos on the board first but his shot went into the hands of Erik Antanesyan for a save in the 17th minute. The Bulldogs had no real shots at scoring resulting in a scoreless first half. 

Davit Tadevosyan scored goals in the 22nd and 24th minute of the second half to help Hoover come away with a two-goal victory over Burbank. “It was a much-needed win but my guys came into this game against Burbank hungry for a victory and I was very proud of them,” said Harry Tachian. Tachian also said that Tadevosyan can have a two-goal game every time but admits that soccer is a team game and it takes everyone to win. 

“It was a close game, we made a few mistakes in the second half that ended up hurting us,” said Johnny Rotunno. Rotunno said that Erik Antanesyan was fantastic in the net but admitted it was not easy for him to stop one-on-one breakaways. 

Burbank falls to 11-3-3 overall and 2-2-1 in Pacific League play and Hoover improves to 7-3-2 overall and 1-1-2 in Pacific League play. Both teams will return to action on Thursday, January 30th. Hoover will play a home game with Pasadena at 3:45 pm and Burbank will take on Crescenta Valley at 7 PM. Following the Burbank-CV Game, the Bulldogs will hold a senior night postgame ceremony to honor its members from the class of 2025 with the festivities starting at 8:30 p.m.