On a cold and rainy Wednesday night, the Palo Alto varsity girls’ lacrosse team managed to pull out an impressive 12-8 victory over opposing Pioneer high school.  Pioneer proved to be a difficult adversary, but the Vikings held strong and defeated the team.

Coming off an unfortunate setback from a Central Coast Section (CCS) technicality, this victory was an important one for the Lady Vikes, as it increased their chances of qualifying to play in the Playoff.

Throughout the first half of the game both teams fought back and forth with close scores and no significant leads.  At the 7:30 mark in the second half, Paly found themselves just two goals ahead of Pioneer with a score of 9-7.

The Vikings finally found a surge of momentum in the last few minutes of the game.  With three consecutive goals from Emy Kelty (’12), Charlotte Biffar (’13), and Ami Drez (’14), the Vikings were able to pull away from Pioneer and take a commanding 12-7 lead.

Pioneer faltered with the newfound lead of the Vikings, and was unable to catch up. The Vikings would go on to win the game by a score of 12-8, giving them yet another win on their way to a league title.

Head coach Jamie Nesbitt was extremely happy with her team’s performance.

“I think that a positive from today’s game was that we improved throughout the game,” Nesbitt said. “Our stick work was a little bit sloppy at the beginning but we picked that up as the game went along.”

Nesbitt was also impressed with her team’s ability to adjust and get better despite some tough conditions.

“The ref’s were making some questionable calls so we adjusted to what they were calling which was huge,” Nesbitt said.

The Vikings will play next this Friday at home against Los Gatos high school at 7 pm. This will be one of three other remaining games.  To encourage Paly fans to attend the game, the Sports Boosters have arranged incentives. The first 30 attendees will get Jamba Juice’s for $1 per cup, and all attendees are eligible to win Viking Spirit clothing from a free raffle.