After a hard-fought, 1-1 draw with Woodside Priory on Wednesday, the Paly girls’ varsity soccer team will play against Saint Francis in the Palo Alto Winter Classic Tournament final this afternoon.

In Wednesday’s game, the Vikings drew first blood: in the game’s 17th minute, senior midfielder Sammi Bengston was fouled well outside the penalty box, and Paly was awarded a direct kick from that spot, about 30 yards from the goal.

Priory set up a three-player wall, but that was not enough to stop senior defender Elizabeth Petit, who took the kick. Petit’s shot floated over Priory goalie Dani Boross and into the upper-right corner of the goal.

Though Paly controlled the majority of the possession game and had significantly more scoring opportunities than Priory, Petit’s goal was the only the only one in the first half.

The Paly defense played an integral part in the Vikings’ first-half dominance, according to Paly head coach Ernesto Cruz.

“Defense in general played tremendously,” Cruz said.

Junior forward Kelly Jenks feels the same way.

“They [Priory] had two good forwards who were doing their jobs well; I think we did a pretty good job defending them,” Jenks said.

Regardless of Paly’s apparent advantage, Priory’s players remained energetic and did not lose their composure.

Paly came out strong once again in the beginning of the second half, with a couple of good scoring chances in the first five minutes of play.

As the half’s halfway point approached, however, Priory began to gain traction. Where Priory’s chances had only previously come on long balls to forwards, hail-mary type shots, and free kicks, the team began to build opportunities from more sophisticated passing plays.

In a span of less than 10 minutes, Priory had four good scoring chances that went unanswered by Paly. After this run of opportunities, Priory steadily gained control of the game. For almost the entirety of the next 10 minutes, the ball was in Paly’s half.

Finally, in the 69th minute of the game, Priory’s Leslie Barkmann scored from just outside the right goalpost on the rebound of another close-range shot that had been blocked by Paly’s sophomore goalie Alex Kershner. The first shot came off of a Priory cross into Paly’s six-yard box.

After the goal, the Vikings began to lose their passing game and Priory continued to possess the ball. For the next few minutes, Paly seemed disorganized and somewhat off-balance.

Cruz brought up Paly’s difficulties during this part of the game during the team meeting after the game.

“We need to have personality for the last 10 minutes,” Cruz said.

Jenks also noted Paly’s problems in the final part of the game.

“Mentally, we need to be a little tougher at the end of the game,” Jenks said.

With about five minutes left on the clock, the Vikings seemed to recover their energy and composure after a valiant solo run by Jenks into the Priory defensive zone.

From then on, the Vikings dominated play, but were not able to score a go-ahead goal. The 80-minute long game ended in a one-to-one tie.

After the game, Cruz praised his team’s performance.

“They’ve been dominating in every position,” Cruz said. “They played the right way.”

Cruz also emphasized that the way his team plays is not centered on individual performances.

“That’s our style: we play as a team,” Cruz said.

Cruz described Paly’s style of play as focused on short, quick passes and touches, and frequent movement.

“Happy soccer, man, people like that, and we have the players,” Cruz said. “You’ve got to have the athletes to do it.”

This style was especially apparent in the first half of the game against Priory.

Looking forward to the game against Saint Francis, Cruz has set his sights on victory.

“I think they’re [Saint Francis is] much better than Los Altos and Woodside Priory; St. Francis has always been a tough cookie, but we’re going for the win,” Cruz said.

Junior forward and defender Maeve Stewart echoed Cruz’s determination to win.

“If everyone is focused and calm and composed, I think we can control the game against St. Francis,” Stewart said. “We’ve won this tournament in the past. I’ve never lost, and I’m not willing to break that streak.”

The Vikings will play the Saint Francis Lancers for the Palo Alto Winter Classic Tournament championship at the Paly football field at 4:00 pm today.