In previous years, the Vikings have had difficult match-ups against Mountain View, resulting in close-scoring games.

Paly Coach Don Briggs said he was pleased with the overall performance despite some obstacles toward the end of the game.

“I think we played pretty well most of the time but those last 15 minutes were pretty dicey,” Briggs said. “They were [Mountain View was] just pushing us and we were just running out of healthy bodies.”  

Junior midfielder Eric Aboytes scored the first goal of the game early in the first half. Aboytes received a pass from teammate junior Leyton Ho and slotted the ball past the Mountain View goalkeeper.

“I saw some space at the top of the blocks,” Aboytes said. “Leyton made a good pass and I hit [the ball] through the opponents’ legs and into the goal.”

Senior Valter Levander scored the second goal, and left in the second half due to a hamstring injury.

“We lost Valter which was really bad,” Briggs said. “Hopefully it’s not too bad because he’s our leading scorer.”

Senior captain Matt Knowles played a key role in leading the defense to preventing a Mountain View goal, though he was not particularly pleased with his performance tonight.

“It wasn’t my best performance but sometimes you have to be scrappy and at least get a touch on it [the ball], especially when it’s wet,” Knowles said.

The Vikings will face Los Altos High School (6-2-3) next Wednesday, Jan. 31 at Los Altos.