Palo Alto High School’s boys’ varsity soccer team fell to Monta Vista, 1-0, in a physical game Wednesday.
The Vikings now stand at 6-2-1 in the Central Coast Section’s DeAnza league and 10-4-3 overall.
Paly entered the match as the favorite in light of a 4-1 thrashing of the Pioneers on Jan. 10. However, lack of effective communication and several controversial calls by the officials proved to be the recipe for disaster for the Vikings.
“This [Monta Vista] was a team we could have easily put away,” senior defender and captain Cameron Taylor said. “We can’t solely blame the refs; we didn’t come to play.”
The officials, however, played a notable role in determining the outcome of the game. As the first half wound to a close, Pioneer junior goalie Max Khurgin leaped to block a lob-shot, but the ball bounced off his finger-tips, directly towards his goal. Viking senior forward Manny Barragan was there to notch Paly’s first tally of the game, as he headed the ball into the vacant goal. To Paly’s dismay, the goal was quickly disallowed due to a pushing call against Paly that was made just before the goal.
With one goal in the bag but none on record, the Vikings started to show signs of frustration. Paly’s passing game was solid on the whole, but the finishing touch was elusive. In the 57th minute, the Vikings worked the ball around the box and in to senior midfielder Jean Choi who was standing to the left side of the goal. Choi unleashed a laser from in close, but hit the cross bar and saw the force of the shot send the ball toward the other end of the field.
“The game just didn’t go our way today,” Choi said.
Monta Vista sowed the seeds for Paly’s aggravation in the 10th minute with its first and only goal on the day. Viking senior goalie Harrison Newkirk made a sprawling save, but Pioneer junior forward Yonni Nattiv took control of the rebound and found fellow forward, freshman Mizuki Hamada, to the right side of the goal. Hamada touched the ball in for the only goal of the game.
The match ended on a tense note, as referees ran over to separate the two teams at the benches. Senior forward Estevan Guerrero was given a yellow card, but reasoning behind the call was not readily apparent to spectators and Paly players alike.
“Good refs or not, we need to stick to our game-plan and stay focused,” Choi said.
A strong game-plan will be needed for two of the Vikings’ three last games of the regular season. Paly faces its main competition this season, Gunn and Mountain View, at home Feb. 7 and Feb. 9, respectively. Paly next travels to play Fremont at Fremont at 3:30 p.m. Friday.