Rocco Quiroga records 12 saves in goal, and Lincoln Morrow adds a four-goal game in the Bears’ win over the Tigers 

In a contest that previewed future Pacific League opponents. The John Burroughs Bears came away with a 10-6 win over the South Pasadena Tigers behind a pair of strong individual efforts. Rocco Quiroga was strong in net with 12 saves and was aided by a four-goal game by Lincoln Morrow in their season home opener, following a blowout 15-4 loss to Pasadena Poly last week. This was the first game for South Pasadena. 

Last season, the Tigers finished with a 21-11 overall record and a 5-5 record in Rio Hondo League play. They turned that into a successful CIF Playoff run. First, South Pasadena won 10-9 over Cate in the CIF Southern Section D4 Championship to secure a trip to the CIF Southern California State D3 tournament. The Tigers defeated Cleveland 12-6 to win the state title. 

It was a neck-and-neck first quarter for the Bears and Tigers as both teams traded goals throughout the opening period. Nicolas Oporata got the Bears on top with the game’s first goal to give Burroughs a 1-0 lead, and then Sven Leu tied the score at one with a goal of his own. Kelly Roan put the Bears back in front with a 2-1 lead, then Ethan Cheng tied the score at two with another goal for the Tigers. Liam Wamester and Leu both scored goals to get the score tied at three, which was the score at the end of the opening quarter. 

The Bears and Tigers started the second quarter the same way they started the game – with back-to-back scores. Diego Pizarro scored a goal to give the Tigers a 4-3 lead before Lincoln Morrow and Oporta then scored back-to-back goals for the Bears to give them a 5-4 lead. Burroughs gained momentum with their scoring throughout the second quarter and then ended the first half with a 7-4 lead over South Pasadena. 

The Bears continued to have momentum in the second half with Oporta scoring the first goal of the second half to give Burroughs a four-point lead. Ethan Cheng then cut the Bears’ lead to three by scoring a goal for South Pasadena. Burroughs continued to put the game away with Lincoln Morrow scoring his fourth goal of the contest to make the score 9-5. Goalie Rocco Quiroga ended the quarter in style when he scored a buzzer-beating goal from long distance to help Burroughs take a 10-5 lead. 

While it was an uneventful fourth quarter, the Tigers’ Mateo Salas scored the only goal of the quarter with 36 seconds left, which made the score 10-6. 

“I thought we bounced back well after a rough loss to Pasadena Poly. We had a lot of people missing because of vacations and sickness, but we got more time to swim and get our practice reps in. We were able to come out on top with a nice victory over South Pasadena,” said Martin Ortega. Ortega also praised Lincoln Morrow and Rocco Quiroga for playing a part in the Bears’ win over the Tigers with their efforts in the pool. 

Burroughs improves to 2-1 on the season, and South Pasadena drops to 0-1. Burroughs will take on Flintridge Prep next Wednesday, August 27th, at 3:45 p.m. at home, and South Pasadena will play in the Poly Tournament next Friday, August 29th, and next Saturday, August 30th, with opponents to be determined later.