After three weeks off, the Palo Alto Boys varsity soccer team returned to the field on Friday, narrowly beating city rival Gunn High School, 2-1.
The Vikings (7-1-5, 2-1-2) took the field in a much anticipated league match, and held the Titans (5-7-1, 0-4-1) scoreless for nearly 60 minutes.
“We played well,” assistant Paly coach Harrison Newkirk said. “Really no complaints. We need to look forward and take it game by game. This was certainly an emotional lift beating Gunn, coming off three weeks of break and will give us some momentum going into the rest of the season.”
Right from the kickoff, Paly took control of the ball. Junior midfielder Kevin Ashworth scored the first goal off a pass from junior Adam Zernik, 15 minutes in to put the Vikings up, 1-0.
Throughout the first half, Paly retained control of the game. The Vikings consistently moved the ball down field, due in part to momentum from Ashworth’s early goal.
“We played well,” Ashworth said. “We kept pushing the ball forward and tried to capitalize on the chances we were given.”
As the first half wound down, the Gunn took slight control as the Titans pushed into the red zone.
Palo Alto came out in the second half with newfound energy. Senior forward Scott Ostrau drew a foul after he was slide tackled, setting up Paly up for a second goal. Zernik took the free kick, placed the ball in the middle of a group of Paly players and Ashworth hammered it into the net for his second goal of the afternoon.
With Gunn pressuring late, senior defenders Zal Dordi, Bubba Paguirigan, and sophomore sweeper Ryan Holland all did an excellent job clearing out Gunn strikes. The defense was supplemented by junior keeper Peter Johnson who made some incredible, leaping saves.
“Gunn came in here with a poor record,” junior defender John Christopherson said. “But this was a rivalry game, so both of our teams came out playing.”
Halfway through the half, Gunn managed to score with a powerful shot to the right corner of the net. Nevertheless, it was too little too late as the Titans failed in League play.
“After being off for three weeks it was rough coming back, but it was a win,” Paly head coach Donald Briggs said.
Palo Alto’s next home game will be tomorrow, Jan. 16 at 3:30 p.m.