The Palo Alto boy’s lacrosse team started off strong in the first half and maintained their lead with a final score of 11-6.

The Vikings came into the first quarter ready to dominate, with two goals by Wayland Chiu (’14) and Matt Seligson (’16). Los Altos rallied back and put one at the back of the net. However, defender Josh Stern (’14) took possession from the eagles for a clear break away to end the first quarter 3-1.

Paly continued to take control over Los Altos, putting nine more goals up and shutting out the Eagles. Goals for the Vikings were Scored by Chiu, Jordan Gans (’14) and two back to back goals by Payton Dwight (’14). The Viking finished the second quarter 9-1.

Despite their domination in the first two quarters, the Vikings were unable to find the back of the net with only one goal by Gans in the third quarter. However, defenders J.P. Flather (’14) and James Harrisson (’14)  stepped up and prevented the Eagles from scoring , ending the quarter 10-1.

Entering the final quarter of the game, the Vikings looked to seize the win as Gans won the draw control and put one in the back of the net, bringing the score to 11-1. However, Los Altos battled back with a goal to trail the Vikings 11-2. Despite defensive efforts, the Vikings were unable to hold the Eagles, as they scored five back to back goals to end the game 11-6.

In spite of the Vikings dominant outcome, head coach DJ Shelton was disappointed with how his team finished the game.

“We set some goals yesterday at practice about control and discipline and didn’t really follow any of it. We just worked playing within ourselves for the second half and it didn’t look pretty, didn’t reflect the self of the scoreboard. We have a tendency, and its happen the past few games win or lose, to kind of have a lackadaisical approach to the game at the end, regardless if its out of shot losing or if it just feels like its accomplished and is a win in the bag,” Shelton said. “[We’re] just not staying focused on what needs to be done and just worrying about individuals and trying to get the big check or trying to get the big shot instead of just staying within the system, and so everything just kinda falls apart when they’re just playing for themselves versus the guy next to them.”

Looking forward, Shelton hopes to get back the right mentality the Vikings started with.

“Really just to Play within our system and play a full 48. I think that were capable of it, and we saw it early on in the season against Los gatos, so I think that just staying within the system and seeing what we saw early on in the season is our biggest goal,” Shelton said.

Chiu also expressed his sentiments about his teams efforts tonight.

“As a team we need to keep our mentality up and not let it slip away,” Chiu said.