After a rough battle between Palo Alto and Menlo Atherton on Wednesday night, Palo Alto was unable to score in the last quarter and lost to Menlo Atherton 10-11. The loss meant the end of the Vikes’ season.

The game started out on a strong note for Paly when Zach Levitan (‘15) scored the first goal of the game. Tully McCalister (‘14) followed Levitan’s goal by shooting from outside the circle and scoring another goal for the Vikes. WIth another goal by Payton Dwight (‘14) the score was 3-0 with Paly ahead. McCalister then passed to Matt Seligson (‘16)who put in a quick shot for another goal. Menlo Atherton finally was able to score a goal, bringing the score to 4-1. Paly answered when Dwight passed to Seligson by the goal who scored a goal. Jordan Gans (‘14) then scored the last goal of the quarter, which ended with a score of 6-1.

The second quarter was dominated by the Menlo Atherton. They scored quickly after the quarter began and their momentum was difficult for the Vikings to stop. Menlo Atherton scored four unanswered goals. At halftime the score was 6-5 with Paly still in the lead.

“Luckily we were ahead in the second quarter so [Menlo Atherton] didn’t beat us then but it was obviously a momentum swing and we were stuck playing catch up,” said Coach DJ Shelton.

As the third quarter began, Gans scored two goals to help Paly stay ahead with a score of 8-5. Menlo Atherton then got their momentum back and scored four goals to pull ahead by one goal. Gans scored his fourth goal of the game at the end of the quarter, tying up the game 9-9.

Entering the fourth quarter, Menlo Atherton scored the first two goals putting them into the lead. Gans then scored to bring the score to 10-11. The Vikings stayed on offense for the rest of the quarter, but were unable to score. After a tough match, Menlo Atherton was victorious and will continue onto the championship game.

“Everything was great this season and really fun,” said goalie Quintin Valenti (‘16). “The team really came together and I couldn’t imagine playing with a different team, it was just amazing.”