The Palo Alto High School girls Varsity Lacrosse team beat cross-town rival Gunn High School, 10-8, tonight in a back and forth game at Paly.
Due to a recently discovered Central Coast Section (CCS) technicality, the Lady Vikes were forced to forfeit six of their Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) wins, dropping their record from 8-1 to 2-7.
“I think a lot of us took our anger out on the game and went super hard,” co-captain Kimmie Flather (’12) said. “If we somehow don’t make the CCS playoffs, then Gunn will probably go to the championships so we want to show that we’re better than them.”
The game got off to a quick start, with goals by Flather and Nina Kelty (’13) in the first minute. Gunn answered back with two goals soon after, tying the score at two all with 14 minutes left in the first half.
“We really came out strong tonight as a team,” head coach Jamie Nesbitt said. “Everyone went hard from beginning to end. We took care of business against the rival.”
The Vikings would soon take the lead with goals from Kristen Destefano (’14) and Flather, but Gunn would once again answer back with two goals, tying the score at four with 4:39 remaining.
The back and forth scoring continued, as Gunn scored, followed by a Charlotte Biffar (’13) goal with 1:59 on the clock. The first half concluded with the score tied at five.
“I think we played really well,” Flather said. “The only problem was that we kept on dropping balls. That messed us up. If we had caught the ball, we would have killed.”
After a slow start to the second half, the Vikings would take control of the game with two goals from Flather, one from Biffar, and another from Nina Kelty, to bring the score to 9-5 Vikings with 12:55 left.
“The game plan for the second half was the same as the first half,” Flather said. “If we didn’t have a fast break we wanted to just sling it behind, see the cuts and do our plays that we know work.”
Despite another goal from Nina Kelty, which put the score at 10-5, Gunn fought back scoring twice in 30 seconds, bringing the Titans to within three goals with 5:54 remaining.
But the Vikings’ defense prevailed, giving them a 10-8 victory.
“[The CCS technicality] is going to impact the record, but it’s not going to have an impact on the team moving forward,” Nesbitt said. “ It’s really an opportunity for us to reset. We’re still at a point where we have control of the rest of the season.”
The Vikings will play Pioneer this Wednesday, April 25 at 6:00 p.m. in hopes of keeping their league dream alive.