The Paly girls’ lacrosse team defeated home-town rival, and number one seeded team, Gunn, with a final score of 10-9.

The game started off with Gunn scoring two goals in the first two minutes of the game, giving them the early lead. Paly quickly retaliated with a play by Maya Benatar (‘16) driving in to put Paly on the board. Midfielder Paige Bara (‘15) tied the game scoring after scoring off a 8 meter shot, only to be countered by an 8 meter by Gunn making the score 3-2.

“Gunn is definitely a tough team because their slow offense really kills the momentum, but I think we played with relaxed intensity we lacked the last time we faced them,” Benatar said. of the teams ability to adjust to their opponent.

Benatar was fouled and scored her second goal of the night a minute later, making it a tie game again.

Gunn received an 8 meter and scored, giving them a lead for the third time in the night. Paly continued to put the pressure on the Gunn defense, leading to Bara bouncing it in off a pass from Kristen DeStefano (‘14). Allie Peery (‘15) was fouled and granted an 8 meter shot which she made, giving Paly the lead. Gunn scored soon after, once again making it a tie game.

Bara ran it from the half to score again for the Vikings, bringing the score to 6-5. DeStefano was fouled and carried it all the way back to Gunn’s defensive third. She was then fouled again and scored an 8 meter shot, giving Paly their biggest lead of the night. The score remained 7-5 for the rest of the half, neither team able to capitalize on their chances.

Gunn scored the first goal in the second half making it a one point game. Liana Pickrell (‘15) retaliates seconds later driving it in to score her first goal of the night.

Gunn scored due to a defensive error, making it a one point game with 19:35 left to play. The Vikings defense recovered with a save by goalie Meredith Kinnaman (‘16). After five minutes of failed offensive drives by both teams, Gunn scored making it a tie game with less than 15 minutes left to play. Another save by Kinnaman kept the score tied.

Lauren Gargiulo (‘15) puts Paly in the lead scoring with 11:35 left to play. The Vikings then slow the game down to run the clock, but the Gunn offensive continues to build attack, only to be shut down by the Paly defense. Bara scored another goal giving Paly a secure lead as they played out the remaining five minutes of the game. Gunn scored again, making it a one point game, but the Vikings  finished with a 10-9 win.

Benatar was impressed with her team’s efforts and is confident about their abilities.

“We have proven that we are the team in our league to beat,” Benatar said.

The team will face Saint Francis, another tough opponent, Thursday at 7 p.m. at Paly. Come out and support the team as they hope to make it another game to remember.