In a defense-heavy game for the Vikings (6-3), the Palo Alto High School boys’ lacrosse team suffered a 4-16 loss to the Saint Francis High School Lancers (10-4) in a non-conference game Thursday night at home.
Before the results of this game, the Vikings and the Lancers were each ranked second in their respective leagues.
According to Lancer head coach Noah Temple, the Vikings and his team have played each other for years despite being in different leagues.
“Paly is a team that we played almost every year for like the last 15 to 16 years,” Temple said. “We’re using this opportunity to play someone close to home that plays the sport of lacrosse well.”
The game began with an outpouring of scoring by the Lancers, who jumped to an 8-2 lead. The scoring was led by sophomore attacker Greyson Bond. Bond continually attacked the Vikings’ defense, who were overwhelmed by the Lancers’ ball movement and offensive execution. After a goal from Viking senior Sam Helft, the Lancers had a halftime lead of 9-3.
Viking senior Oliver Chancellor said the Vikings had a tough time on offense.
“It’s really hard on the defense when we struggle to clear the ball because the ball’s on the defensive side 90% of the game,” Chancellor said. “We just got too tired, we got too worn out.”
Bond continued his dominant performance in the second half, scoring the first goal out of the break for the Lancers, giving them a 10-3 lead early in the second half. Thereafter, the Lancers continued to score at will, through consistent teamwork sharing the ball, with goals from junior Aarush Navin-Chandler, freshman Ryan Guerreiri and sophomore Jake Miller. The Lancers’ strategy of scoring by committee, combined with limiting the Viking offense, yielded a 16-4 victory.
According to Viking junior Lucas Grodnitzsky, the Vikings made a change in strategy between halves.
“We switched our defense from a sliding defense to a lock-off defense,” Grodnitzsky said. “That basically means we aren’t moving from man to man. We’re staying locked on our man.”
Viking head coach Ed Hattler said Sam Helft put in the work.
“Sam Helft was beating his man,” Hattler said. “He scored a few nice goals. That was sort of a bright spot for us.”
According to Chancellor, he hopes to play a rivalry match in the Central Coast Section finals.
“I’m looking forward to CCS,” Chancellor said. “I hope that we meet Los Gatos in the finals. We beat them this season, and they got us last season. I have a lot of faith that if we meet them there, we’re going to win.”
The Vikings will play the Burlingame High School Panthers (7-3) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Burlingame High School.
