Under the lights, at the Paly home turf, boys’ varsity lacrosse defeated Archbishop Mitty High School Wednesday night, 13-5.
The Vikings were able to take the lead with top scorers Jonny Glazier (’13) and Skyler Anderson (’13) contributing a combined total of 11 goals.
The Vikings started out on a dominant note,with Anderson gaining possession, assisting Glazier in the first goal of the night. However, the Vikings were unable to keep possession, as their defense fell to the Monarchs tying up the score. After numerous plays on the field, neither team could find the back of the net. With three minutes left in the first quarter, the Vikings gained possession again, allowing Anderson to score, ending the quarter with a 2-1 lead.
Although in the lead, the Vikings believe they could have come out stronger in the first quarter.
“Our offense was a little off in the beginning so we’ve got some work to do on that,” head coach Craig Conover said.
Entering the second quarter, the boys looked to dominate the field offensively and increase their lead. However, despite maintaining possession of the ball at the draw, the Vikings could not maintain it. Once again, the defense fell to the Monarch’s, tying up the score 2-2. After several plays by Paly, Anderson acquired the ball, assisting Glazier for a another goal, putting Vikings on top.
Soon after Zach Levitan (’15) gained possession, assisting Matthew Seligson (’15) for a clear shot to goal. After loss of possession, defender, James Harrison (’14), stole the ball sending it down the field to Zach Rizk (’14), who passed it to Glazier for a wide-open goal. The Vikings ended the half with a goal by Anderson, putting them up 6.2
Despite their mistakes in the beginning, Conover is satisfied with how the offense sharpened their level of play.
“Even though there were some mixed results in the beginning, we started to pull it together,” Conover said.
The Viking offense had trouble connecting to find the back of the net in the opening of the second half, with several shots taken by Glazier. Unable to keep possession, the Viking’s defense as well as goalie Andre Kouchekey (’13) stepped up to stop Mitty from numerous scoring opportunities.Due to defensive plays by the Vikings, the offense was able to obtain the ball again, allowing Glazier to score three goals, to give Paly a 9-3 lead. With one minute left, Levitan raced past Mitty’s defenders scoring the last goal of the third quarter putting the Vikings up by seven.
Captain Walker Mees (’13) was satisfied with his team’s performance as both ends of the field contributed.
“We played really well as a team,” Mees said. “The offense stepped up and the defense played really well too.”
With the Vikings leading 10-3, Paly looked to take an extensive lead as they entered the fourth quarter. With numerous draw controls won by the Vikings, attackers Anderson and Glazier scored three goals, to increase the Viking lead to ten. Despite Paly’s offensive dominance, the Monarchs had the last goal of the night leaving the score 13-5.
With a commanding win over Mitty, the Vikings are looking to become SCVAL champions once again, after winning it in 2011.
“We definitely want to win league,” Mees said.
Coach Conover shares Mees sentiments, looking to repeat history.
“(We want) to win the championship,” Conover said. “We’ve been out of it for two years and its time to get back in it.”
The Vikings will take on Carmel High School this Saturday in Carmel.