Paly girls’ soccer took on South San Francisco at Paly in one of its first scrimmages of the season.

The first half started off strong for the Vikings, who controlled the game with their quick possessions and numerous scoring opportunities.

Jacey Pederson (‘16) was the first to capitalize on the chance at goal when she drove the ball into the left corner of the net in the 19th minute. Momentum picked up for Paly as Emil Tomz (‘18) and Bella Bonomi (‘18) repeatedly worked the ball up the left flank of the field.

Paly continued to dominate the game throughout the first half, playing almost entirely in South San Francisco’s defensive third of the field.

Pederson scored again off a penalty kick later in the half. The Vikings walked off the field at halftime with a 2-0 lead over the Warriors.

With just under two minutes on the clock in the second half, Natalie Maloney (‘17) was assisted to goal by Talia Malchin (‘17), and Paly slipped into a comfortable 3-0 lead.

The Vikings scored once more with about 30 minutes left in the second half, as Malchin sent a cross to Pederson who hammered the ball into the far corner of the goal. Paly earned its fifth goal of the game after the Warrior’s keeper deflected the ball into the net off of a corner kick by Aoi Sugihara (‘15).

Pederson increased the Vikings’ lead to 6-0 after taking on three girls, earning a breakaway, and slotting the ball into the side of the net. Later, Nika Woodfill (‘16) secured a 7-0 lead for Paly after cutting around two girls and sending a low ball into the goal with her non-dominant foot.

Sugihara shot the ball from the top of penalty box and sent it soaring over the goalkeeper’s head to earn Paly’s eighth goal late in the second half.

Following a strong second half performance, the Vikings prevailed over the Warriors with a final score of 8-0.

Captain Pederson was generally pleased with how the team played.

“I think we struggled a bit in the first half…but we ramped it up in the second half and started putting away our chances, which was good,” Pederson said. “I think the younger players did a really good job, specifically Darrow Hornick (‘18) and Brianna Patino (‘18).”

Assistant Coach Eric Seedman echoed Pederson’s comments about the quality performances from underclassmen.

“Some of our players that haven’t gotten much playing time played very well” Seedman said, “A couple of freshmen got their first minutes since the first game of the season and they acquitted themselves well”.

Seedman, however, believes that the team has much greater potential than what was demonstrated on the field today.

“We actually didn’t play well, especially in the first half,” Seedman said. “If we come out and play like that against one of the top teams, we’ll lose…we’re good enough that we really should be favored in every game we play this season.”

Seedman expects the team will rise to the challenge of entering league play and facing more competitive teams starting in January, especially with the return of key players Katie Foug (‘15) and Allison Lu (‘16) who did not play in today’s game.

Pederson also has high hopes for the team’s success this season.

“We’re trying to go the championship and win CCS this year,” Pederson said. “I think we have a chance because our team is pretty good”.

The Vikings will next take on the Gunn Titans at Gunn High School at 4 p.m. on Saturday, January 3rd.