The Palo Alto High School girls Varsity soccer team faced defeat to Mountain View High School on Tuesday night in a close game of 3-2. The team also celebrated their senior night on Tuesday, honoring three seniors on their final home game of the season.

According to sophomore Zoe Peterson the team approached the game eager to get a win on senior night.

“Everyone was working so hard,” Peterson said. “We really wanted to win for senior night.”

Despite the loss, the teams were evenly matched throughout the most of the game, remaining tied 1-1 until the final five minutes, when Paly scored to take a 2-1 lead.

“Everybody was so excited because we thought that there was no way the other team could score in five minutes,” Peterson said.

However directly after the Vikings goal, Mountain View’s offense was able to score two back-to-back goals, dealing a tough blow to the Vikings morale and motivation.

“That was really hard for everyone to come back from,” Peterson said. “There was only two minutes left in the game at that point so unfortunately we lost.”

Both teams were at a disadvantage from the start, as it had begun to rain even before warmups, and during the entire senior night ceremony. Even so, the team was still able to celebrate their seniors through gift baskets, posters and flowers.

Afterwards the team reflected on it’s mentality in the closing minutes, and were advised by their coach to keep spirits high, even if they are trailing.

“Our coach told us not to put our heads down after getting scored on, and that we definitely had a chance to win,” Peterson said.

While the loss was a learning experience for the team, they still were able to work hard on the field throughout the match and remained focused as the season comes to an end.