In its 10th home game of the season, the Palo Alto High School girls’ lacrosse team (13-1, 9-0) defeated league opponent Pioneer High School, 17-5, on Friday, adding yet another win to its impressive streak of victories.

The Vikings’ strong offense and control over the pace of the game helped them to emerge victorious.

“They moved the ball very well, and they were finding each other on the fast breaks really well,” head coach Jen Gray said. “When we decided we needed to start working on our attack and control the pace of the game, they did that very well too, so I was very happy with them today.”

The Vikings were pumped going into the game, according to sophomore midfielder Emy Kelty.

“I think we were really motivated because last time it was a really close game and we didn’t want that to happen again,” Kelty said.

Senior attacker Sam Herzog scored three goals while freshman attacker Nina Kelty, senior attacker Brianna Boyd, and sophomore midfielder Kimmie Flather each contributed a goal to kick off the first half with a 6-0 Paly lead.

Despite the Vikings’ strong defense, Pioneer managed to score two quick goals in a row, bringing the score to 6-2.

Flather, Kelty, freshman attacker Charlotte Biffar, and senior attacker Mari Wilson retaliated with goals of their own to stretch Paly’s lead. With six seconds left, Flather launched a quick shot into the Mustang’s goal, ending the first half at 11-2.

According to senior midfielder Maya Fielder, the Vikings’ teamwork allowed them to score successive goals.

“I think our transition up the field [was good],” Fielder said. “We had really good passes and we made the shots really quickly.”

To start off the second half, Fielder wove through Pioneer’s defense and scored her first goal of the game. Fielder’s goal was followed by another one from Herzog, making the score 13-2.

After, Pioneer managed to score two more goals, bringing the score to 13-4.

Biffar and senior attacker Claire Cooper quickly responded with two more goals. After a fantastic assist by senior attacker Julie Dahm in which she passed the ball in a long arc to the center of the field, Boyd scored her second goal of the game to put the Vikings’ ahead, 16-4.

With two minutes left in the game, Biffar scored her third goal of the game, extending Paly’s lead to 17-4.

Pioneer scored once more in the second half, but the final score of 17-5 was a testament to Paly’s defensive unity and offensive firepower.

Gray said that the combined efforts of the team was its key to success.

“We don’t have only one person or two people who make all of the big plays for us,” Gray said. “Our whole team is very well-rounded and everybody can be a threat… Everybody is working hard on the field so it’s very hard to defend us because they can’t just concentrate on one or two big key players and shut us down.”

Emy Kelty agreed that the versatility of the team allowed it to win.

“We did a really good job overall in the game,” Kelty said. “Everyone did their part and the score reflected this.”

After this win, the team is hoping to move on to win the league championship, according to Gray.

“I’m hoping that we make it to playoffs and our goal is to get to championship game and win it, so I’m hoping to end this season with these last four games being wins,” Gray said.

The Vikings will play their next game at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, at Los Gatos against Los Gatos High School.