Boys’ soccer continued their winning streak by defeating Santa Clara 3-0 at home on Thursday, Jan. 15. Dami Bolarinwa (’16), Ariya Momeny (’16) and Cole Tierney (’16) all scored for the Vikings.

Momeny was proud of his team’s effort both in this game as well as throughout the season.

“Our team is really good this season,” Momeny said. “We’re putting in good work in practices… we have a good coaching staff…it’s looking good so far.”

Alex Bonomi (’16) and Eli Friedlander (’16) each played a half as goalkeeper, which Coach Don Briggs described as unprecedented. Most teams only have one accomplished goalkeeper, but this year Briggs is impressed with both.

“We’re looking pretty good,” Briggs said. “Both keepers are doing well.”

Michel Siaba (’17) and Bolarinwa had multiple combination plays in the first half. About 20 minutes into the game, Siaba dribbled down the sideline and got a cross to Bolarinwa who edged it past the goalkeeper. Ten minutes later, the same play developed but Bolarinwa’s shot went just over the goal.

In the first half, Santa Clara had many opportunities to score with free kicks often being awarded just outside the box. Paly’s defenders fended these off well, and goalkeeper Bonomi had a few diving saves.

Wesley Woo (’15) was given a yellow card with five minutes left in the first half. The final minutes were spent in Paly’s defensive end.

After halftime, Paly widened its lead with Tierney scoring off an assist by Woo after just a few minutes. The momentum was continued with a save by goalkeeper Friedlander. Bolarinwa was given a yellow card with about 25 minutes left, but Paly still kept the intensity up and Momeny headed the ball into the goal off a cross from Tierney.

The rest of the game was full of fouls and free kicks going both directions, but Friedlander and Santa Clara’s goalkeeper were able to keep any more shots from going in.

Friedlander was impressed with his team’s ability to step it up for the second half.

“We had kind of a sketchy first half but we picked up the intensity and tightened up defensively and put away two goals in the second half,” Friedlander said.

Because their previous games had smaller score differentials, Briggs was happy with the high number of goals his players scored.

“We’re working on our scoring,” Briggs said. “We’ve been doing a lot in practice and that finally paid off today.”

Looking forward, Friedlander thought there was room for improvement but he was excited about the upcoming games

“We need to keep staying strong defensively and keep finishing,” Friedlander said. “We have tough games coming up but I like our odds.”

Next up, the Vikings take on Mountain View away on Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 3:30 p.m.