The girls’ soccer team defeated the Los Gatos Wildcats for the first time in two years Saturday.

Possession of the ball alternated between the Vikings and the Wildcats, with neither team clearly dominating for the first several minutes of the game. Not long after the whistle the Vikings, led by center midfielder Katie Foug (‘15), began to connect on passes and gained control of the game.

The majority of the first half was played in Los Gatos’ defensive part of the field, however, Paly missed several chances to score off of corner kicks and other opportunities.

Nearing the end of the half, Ansley Queen (‘16) nearly earned a goal by heading the ball from a cross, but the Wilcats’ goalie stopped it before the ball rolled into the net. Then, with less than five minutes until halftime, the ball flew just wide of the net following a shot by Emily Tomz (‘18) from outside of the 18-yard-box.

With the Vikings’ unable to finish the ball, the game remained scoreless as the half came to a close, despite top-scorer Jacey Pederson (‘16) entering the game with roughly ten minutes left on the clock.

After halftime, the game started off quickly when Jacey Pederson (‘16) exploded past Gatos’ defenders up the left flank of the field and drove a low shot into the far corner of the goal. Less than one minute into the half, Paly was up 1-0.

Throughout the second half, the Vikings continued to dominate possession, yet struggled to put the ball into the net.

With the clock winding down, Emily Tomz (‘18) arched the ball into the net from the 5-yard-box with an assist by Allison Lu (‘16).

The Vikings’ finished the game triumphantly with a score of 2-0, defeating the defending CCS Champions.

Head coach Kurt Devlin was pleased with the team’s performance.

“The team was great today, overall we were really good except for our finishing” Devlin said, “We had great chances we just couldn’t put the ball away, like we had our shoes on the wrong feet or something”.

After the win, Paly is ranked second in the section with an overall record of 11-1. Devlin believes the season is going well for the team and he looks forward to the quickly approaching CCS playoffs.

The girls’ will next take on Los Altos on Thursday, January 29th at 3:30 p.m. on the El Camino field.