In its first appearance in the Central Coast Section finals since 2009, the Palo Alto High School girls’ soccer team (17-2-1,9-2-1) will take on Mountain View High School (17-3-1,10-1-1) in a final battle for dominance Saturday.
Paly came in second in the De Anza League to Mountain View this year, beating the team once, 2-0, and losing once, 2-1. Senior goalie Sarah Lim said the team is looking forward to the match-up.
“They [The Spartans] are a very skilled team, and we know what we are up against,” Lim said. “I think our team is stoked for the game and will leave everything we’ve got on the field. It should be a good game. We’ve been looking to win CCS for a long time now. Paly hasn’t won since 1982, I believe, and this weekend we have a chance to change that.”
The Vikings approach the title-determining game with high hopes after their triumphant win of 5-0 last Wednesday over Santa Teresa High School (15-7,10-4), which the Vikings lost to last year in the semifinals. Junior defender and midfielder Jacey Pederson said the team played well against Santa Teresa.
“We played awesome in our last game – probably the best we’ve played together all season,” Pederson said. “We were really just vibing and all on the same page.”
Lim agreed with Pederson and said the Vikings beat their opponents players to the ball, connected their passes and finished their its chances.
“We definitely want to continue playing the way we have been recently,” Lim said.
Win or lose, CCS is the highest the Vikings can climb – girls’ soccer does not have a state championship tournament.
The Vikings will take on Mountain View in the CCS finals at 10 a.m. on Saturday at Valley Christian High School.