Paly’s girl lacrosse team spoiled Gunn’s Senior Night last Friday by winning a highly contested battle, 11-10, at Gunn.

Sophomore Emily Benatar opened the game by scoring only seven minutes into the game. However, this would be the only goal of the first 15 minutes of the game as both teams looked nervous facing their cross-town rivals.

“In the beginning I think we were just starting to get into the flow of things,” junior Lauren Mah said. “Especially since we couldn’t warm up using the goals due to Senior Night festivities, and we were working to possess the ball on attack long enough to get a clean shot and in general to work on our settled attack.”

Gunn tied up the game when junior Danielle Steinman scored, but the game would not remain tied for very long as Paly took control the game.

Senior Kirsten Atkinson split the Gunn defense down the middle when she took over the ball from the draw, making a spectacular run down the field and tossing in the go-ahead goal.

“It definitely boosted our confidence after she [Atkinson] single-handedly beat so many Gunn players,” junior Maya Fielder said.

Atkinson’s move ignited a run of five goals by the Vikings, who held almost all the momentum going into halftime, save for Gunn attacker Sophie Shevick’s last minute goal.

The Titans mounted a comeback led by Shevick, who scored five goals in the game. Gunn soon tied up the game, but Paly responded immediately with two consecutive goals from junior Brianna Boyd.

“I think it definitely increased the energy of the team and made us work harder since we were more pumped up,” Mah said.

The game went back and forth for the rest of the half before Paly put the nail in the coffin with a three-goal run, capped by junior Sam Herzog’s goal with about six minutes to go.

At this point, the Vikings were up 11-8, but Gunn fought back valiantly with two quick goals. However, the Paly defense was able to hold the Titans for the remainder of the game and emerge victorious.

The victory is sweet revenge for the Paly team, which lost to Gunn last year in its inaugural season. The Vikings won the first game against Gunn this season, 6-2.

The lacrosse team’s next game is against Mercy-Burlingame High School, after school on Tuesday at Burlingame.