The Palo Alto High School boys’ soccer team (0-1-3) got its first win of the season on Wednesday, Dec. 16, with a 2-0 victory over visiting Menlo-Atherton High School (3-0-1).
Paly had a good amount of confidence entering the game.
“I’m excited,” senior goalie Scott Alexander said before warm-ups. “We’re going to get our first win.”
The Viking defense played superbly in the first half when M-A only attempted one shot to Paly’s five. All of the Vikings’ shots came from senior forward Ethan Plant, who also scored the two goals of the game in the first half.
“He [Plant] played a good game,” Paly head coach Donald Briggs said. “He made the tough one and missed the easy, but his first goal was amazing, a nice little heel flick. Almost had a hat trick.”
Paly dominated the first half on both sides of the ball, frustrating M-A players and coaches.
“We were standing out there like cones,” Menlo-Atherton head coach Jacob Pickerd said. “Our players don’t try the first 30 minutes, but stepped it up in the second half.”
Alexander’s goalie play contributed heavily to the Vikings’ win.
“He did fantastic,” sophomore midfielder James Maa said.
Alexander had three acrobatic saves in the second half, keeping the Vikings’ shutout in tact.
“He had a nice save on the last one,” Briggs said.
Alexander’s final save came when M-A’s Edgardo Molina took an indirect kick from the right side of the field towards a crowd of players in front of the goal. M-A’s Jesus Garcia leaped for a header and knocked the ball towards the goal. However, Alexander’s quick reflexes allowed him to jump up and knock the ball over the goal. That was the last flicker of hope for M-A before the final whistle.
Despite its struggles during the first half, M-A stepped up in the second half and began to pressure the Vikings’ defense. The teams matched each other with six shots on goal, but both sides were held scoreless with Paly unable to add to Plant’s two first-half goals.
The second of Plant’s goals came in the middle of the first half, when under pressure by two M-A defenders, Plant launched a high-arching kick that sailed into the back of the goal.
“He [Plant] played a good game,” sophomore forward Kris Hoglund said. “He’s the leading scorer on the team now, and he played like it.”
Multiple Paly players attributed a large part of the win to the new formation they implemented in the game.
“The goal was to create more space for the forwards,” junior defender Ricky Minno said. “The old formation was a 4-4-2, and today we played with a 3-4-3, so we had one less guy on defense. It helped us score goals, and that’s what we were trying to get out of it.”
Alexander felt that the team is coming together well.
“Overall, I was happy with the team’s performance,” Alexander said. “We played with consistency, passed well, and showed good teamwork.”