Paly opened up first half play against the Monta Vista Matadors firing on all cylinders. Forward Chris Meredith (‘13) set the tone when he netted the first goal of the game en route to Paly’s 2-0 victory over the Matadors.
“Chris is always tough,” Viking head coach Briggs said about Meredith. “He’s always disrupting the other team.”
However the game soon turned into a defensive battle. Monta Vista held possession for the majority of the time, but could never seem to hit the goal, given multiple attempts. What were missed opportunities to the Matadors, were due to the outstanding play of Paly goalkeeper Tony Maharaj (‘14) and the Paly defense.
However, the Vikings had trouble putting the ball in the back of the net again, and with only a few seconds of first half play, Paly failed to capitalize off a free kick as a result of a penalty on midfielder, Meredith. The score remained 1-0 as the two teams broke off for halftime.
The Vikings opened up second half play on defense, as Monta Vista took the ball straight down to the Paly D within the first seconds of play. The Matadors were held once again, as the Vikes’ defense held stout to get the ball back to midfield.
Several penalties filled the second half, including one on the Monta Vista goalkeeper for a yellow card following an aggressive slide tackle on Paul Stefanski (‘13). Once again the Vikings could not score off a free kick attempt and the Matadors regained possession. It seemed that Monta Vista had an opportunity to tie the game, knocking on Paly’s defense.
But the Viking defense held, and after a quick succession of passes downfield, Meredith found his captain Kirby Gee (’13) in front of the goal to extend the Vikes lead to two. Monta Vista wasn’t able to create any offensive opportunities in the ensuing possession, as the Vikings held them down until the clock hit zero. Coach Briggs was proud with the way his team performed tonight against the visiting Matadors.
“We played pretty well, there were a few moments when we broke down, where they got through, but they’re a tough team,” Briggs said. “They do some really nice stuff and they got past us, but Tony made a bunch of huge saves.”
Midfielder Cina Vazir (‘14) was pleased with the way his defense played, but felt that his team could polish things up on offense in preparing for their next game. “I think we need to improve on our ball retention, offensively we have the ball away too much, we played the long ball way too often, and although it worked, it’s not an effective strategy against a better team,” Vazir said.
Palo Alto will travel to Lynbrook for a match set at 3:30, Friday afternoon.
