The Palo Alto High School boys’ varsity lacrosse team opened its season with a 13-1 victory over Carlmont on a cold Monday night at Paly.
The Vikes got off to a quick start when, just 26 seconds into the game, midfielder Kris Hoglund (‘12), who was forced to sit out all of last season after he sustained a broken shin while playing goalie in a soccer game on Jan. 26, 2011, scored an unassisted goal off of the opening face-off. It was all Paly from then on out.
They dominated the possession battle early, stringing together pass after pass until someone could find an opening and attack the net. Just two minutes after Hoglund’s strike, attackman Jonny Glazier (‘13) did just that, adding a score of his own to put the Vikings up 2-0.
Then with 8:25 remaining in the opening quarter, attackman Logan Mendenhall (‘13) found Hoglund on a skip pass that made the score 4-0. Hoglund then went on to tack on yet another goal with 4:23 remaining to stretch the Vikes’ advantage to 6-0 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter began more evenly than the first with the game going scoreless for the first eight minutes. However, Hoglund managed to net two more goals in the last three minutes of the quarter to make the score 8-0 at halftime.
The Vikes took up where they left off in the third quarter when Glazier muscled his way through three defenders and slipped one past the goalie to expand the lead to 9-0. Just two minutes later, attackman Tully Mccalister (‘14) scored to stretch his team’s lead to a commanding 10-0 advantage.
Nonetheless, Carlmont didn’t give in. The Scots possessed the ball for the remainder of the quarter and had many chances to score, but the Vikings’ stifling defense coupled with stellar goaltending by Andre Kouchekey (‘13), kept Carlmont scoreless through three quarters.
The fourth quarter began the same way as the first: with a Hoglund goal 26 seconds into the quarter. Hoglund’s deep missile past the goalie was his sixth goal on the night and increased Paly’s lead to 11-0. Two minutes later Glazier notched his first career hat trick, when he took advantage of a power play by creating separation from his defender and firing a shot off of the post and in, making the score 12-0.
However, with 6:23 remaining the Scots finally got one by Kouchekey and thwarted Paly’s hopes of a shutout. Nevertheless, with 2:58 remaining in the game, Glazier, with his back to the crease, added his fourth goal courtesy of a highlight reel worthy, backwards between the legs roller that found the back of the net to make the score 13-1, where it would stand.
While coach Chris Conover was satisfied with his team’s performance, he noted some areas that need improvement if the team is to meet its championship aspirations.
“It was a really good start to the season,” he said. “We have some things to clean up on offense, and we need to cut down our penalties (the Vikings had 12), but we’ll get that sorted out at practice.”
Conover was also elated to have his star player Hoglund back in the lineup.
“[Having Kris back] is like having my birthday,” he said. “He’s always been a star, and having him out there really changes things for us.”
Hoglund described his first game back.
“It was just great to be back,” he said. “I really missed playing on this team last year, having to watch all of the games from the sidelines. And I was really excited to play again with the team, and I’m ready to do whatever I need to do to help this team win.”
As always, Hoglund, who is a captain on the team, holds high expectations for his squad this season.
“[Our goal this year] is obviously to win Leagues and SCVALs and to go undefeated, and to play as well as we can every game.”
The Vikes looks to stay undefeated when they take on rival Gunn at 7:00 p.m. Thursday evening at Paly.
