Samantha Sizemore’s two goals in the second half propelled the Bears to victory over the Mustangs 

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, the John Burroughs Bears come away with a 2-0 victory over the Muir Mustangs on senior day behind two second-half goals by Samantha Sizemore. Entering the contest, Burroughs previously came out on top with a 4-1 victory over Hoover on Friday and Muir came off a 3-0 defeat to the Crescenta Valley Falcons last Wednesday. 

Before kickoff, six graduating on the Burroughs girls’ soccer team were honored and celebrated with their families and friends. Those graduating seniors are Danika Rodriguez, Vivan Wright (Team Captain), Ruby McGrath, Kaylei Quintero (Team Captain), Ella Sage (Team Captain), and Geema Chavez. Following the senior day festivities a moment of silence was held before the game started to honor the lives that were lost during the Eaton Fire tragedies in Pasadena. 

On the soccer field, both Muir and Burroughs had real shots at scoring but unfortunately, the ball didn’t bounce their way in the opening half with offense. Lily Trujillo and Sheelby Gulley had chances to get the Mustangs on the board first but both missed out on goals in the 3rd and 40th minutes of play. Isabella Estrada also tried to get the Bears on the board in the opening half but also missed a chance to score in the 22nd minute. Samantha Sizemore missed both her chances in the 23rd and 34th minutes of play. Sizmore’s first chance saw the ball banging off the crossbar, but it would not have stood as she was called for offsides. The second time around it was on the free kick. Both Burroughs and Muir were held scoreless heading into halftime. 

After a scoreless first half for both teams, Samantha Sizemore scored two goals in quick succession in the 15th and 17th minutes of the second half to give the Bears a commanding 2-0 lead. Sizemore’s first goal came on a penalty kick. She earned the spot kick when she was fouled in front of goal. Vivian Wright had a shot to put the Bears up by three goals but missed a chance to score in the 31st minute of play. Muir went silent offensively in the second half. Sydney Evans Amandaris allowed no goals and recorded three saves in net for Burroughs and Emily Goldorazena had six saves in net while allowing two goals for Muir.  

Burroughs improves to 7-4-3 overall and 2-0-2 in Pacific League play and Muir falls to 13-3-1 overall and 2-1-0 in Pacific League play. Both teams will return to action on Monday, February 3rd with the Bears beginning a two-game road trip starting with the Pasadena Bulldogs while Muir will go on the road to play Glendale. Both games will be played at 3:45 p.m.