If you were to tell anyone two years ago that the Paly boy’s soccer team were to win the league, nobody would believe it. After an underwhelming 2020-2021 season riddled with the effects of COVID-19 and a disappointing record, only one win in 11 games, the Paly boy’s soccer team was completely unsure of what the future of the program had in store.

At the end of the season, they totaled nine wins, five ties, and five losses, pulling together the best season Paly had had in years. The end of the 2021-22 season was the catalyst for what was to come the following season.

“After our loss at Wilcox [in the 2022-21 season], we felt completely and utterly defeated,” senior goalie Isaac Kirby said. “This caused every single junior on the team to really look themselves in the mirror and ask themselves what they wanted out of our senior season, and it lit a spark through all of us that would burn through the entire offseason and carry into next winter.”

This spark led to them ending the 2021-2022 season with a record of nine wins, five ties, and five losses, pulling together the best season Paly had had in years. The end of the 2021-22 season was the catalyst for what was to come the following season.

This year, the boys got off to a hot start, winning four of their first five games, letting in, on average, less than one goal a game. 

Later in the season, however, they hit a block, losing to Aragon and tying with Los Altos and Mountain View. There was a bit of unease within the team. 

“After our scoreless tie with Los Altos, we were feeling pretty good since we managed to tie the two best teams in the league at that point in the season,” Kirby said. “However, we knew we had to start winning games if we wanted to be league title contenders.”

However, the team did notbreak down after not producing the results that they wanted. Instead, the Paly boys persisted, quickly flipping the script, having two shutout victories against Homestead and Wilcox. 

The Vikings would go on to win five of their next eight regular season games, granting them a spot in the highest playoff division in the Central Coast Section (CCS). They would eventually end their season in a hard fought 1-0 loss to the first seeded team, The Alisal High School Trojans, in CCS open division playoffs.

“I felt very personal about it, since it’s the last year for most of my teammates I wanted to go out with a bang,” Ogawa said, “This really allowed me to commit and push everyday.” 

While their season may have not ended how they had hoped, reaching the open division was far  beyond their expectations at the start of the year, and would have been unheard of just two seasons ago.

In addition to winning the league, nine of the players were nominated for the SCVAL all-league awards. Senior Dinu Deshpande won co-league MVP, with seniors Zachary Cooper and Jonas Pao both won co-defensive MVP. Hunter Aaronson (‘23), Nadav Sternheim (‘23) and Richie Ogawa(‘24) won all-league 1st team awards, and Joshua Ramos (‘23) and Isaac Kirby (‘23) won all-league 2nd Team.

After an impressive season, the boys soccer team blew their expectations out of the water, achieving more than they could have ever imagined. The progress the team has made over the past few years has been tremendous, and with a plethora of young players, it is very possible their quality and form will hold for years to come.

Video Interview with Asher Frieman

Honorable Mention: Boys Football

The Palo Alto football team faced lots of adversity this year, having to build their team around a new core of starters under first year head coach David Degeronimo. Positions such as quarterback, running back and receiver were all held by juniors who had spent their last year on JV. 

“I think the new coaching system helped,” Senior captain Va’inga Mahe said. “[The coaching staff] had experience winning in big games like the state championship game. The new juniors and the talent they had were fitting replacements from last year’s team, which was pretty decent.”

The team won the division five CCS championship this year, which was an incredible accomplishment for the Paly football program. The season would come to an end with a 30-20 loss to CCS division four champions Santa Teresa in round one of the division six state championship. 

Despite their early exits, many players were recognised for their achievements including Jack Newman, Ikinasio Tupuo, Rocky Leitch Jeremiah Madrigal, Lincoln Tutor, Declan Packer, Va’inga Mahe, Kai Bussey, Jason Auezenne, and Jeremiah Stallworth who were placed on SCVAL all league teams.