The Palo Alto High School girls’ lacrosse team (16-1, 12-0) dominated Mountain View High School (7-13, 5-9), 16-2, tonight in the Vikings’ last league game at home this season.
The Vikings were unstoppable in the first half, scoring a total of 10 goals by junior Maya Benatar and seniors Liana Pickrell, Lisa Rogge, Claire Chevallier, Allie Peery and Paige Bara.
“I think we played well,” Bara said. “We were happy to get a shutout in the first half and just get some goals off.”
With this being the final league game of their high school careers at home, all the seniors were thrust into the spotlight and put into scoring positions.
“I think it was good to see all the seniors participating, playing different positions, getting a lot of playing time and getting together,” Bara said.
According to senior defender Paige Anderson, it was not just the seniors who played a strong game, but the whole team.
“We handled the ball well and kept possession well,” Anderson said. “I think overall it was really good, especially on attack.”
Head coach Jamie Nesbitt echoed Anderson’s sentiments.
“They played very well,” Nesbitt said. “I think senior nights can be tough sometimes emotionally, but we came out hard from the start which was awesome.”
Mountain View player Hannah Robinson explained that the competition turned out enjoyable.
“I think we [Mountain View] definitely played pretty well as a team,” Robinson said. “Paly’s a great team, so we were up for some pretty tough competition but [Paly] did great and so I had a lot of fun, and I think everyone else did too.”
The Vikings are heading into the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League playoffs with strong leadership, according to Bara, and are hopeful that this will carry them far.
“I think we’re really excited just to kind of prove ourselves as a team,” Bara said. “Since we have so many seniors I think we have a lot of leadership, and so I think that really shows and so that’ll show in the playoffs.”
Coming off of an undefeated league season, Nesbitt believes Paly can find success in the playoffs postseason.
“I think for us it’s [success is] keeping the momentum going up and not just finishing out,” Nesbitt said. “I know we’re going in favored, but it’s actually finishing how we want and making sure the outcome at the end of the game is really what we wanted.”
According to Anderson, the team is on the right track for ultimate success.
“I am looking forward to being pumped up and outworking them [the other teams], because I think we already have the skill, ” Anderson said. “It’s just a matter of working hard.”