The Palo Alto High School girls’ varsity soccer team defeated crosstown rival Gunn High School, 3-1, yesterday, a stark contrast to their 1-3 loss to Gunn earlier in the season.

During the first half, the Vikings got off to a strong start, with senior Mira Ahmed scoring a goal in the eighth minute, only to have Gunn even it up with their own goal eight minutes later. But the Lady Vikes immediately turned around and pushed hard into Titan territory. In the 26th minute sophomore Sunny Lyu scored Palo Alto’s second goal, with no sign of the Titan opposition preparing to return fire. With four minutes left in the half, senior Nina Kelty scored on goal to make Palo Alto’s 3rd and last point.

Paly continued its strong offense during the second half, spending a good deal of time on the Titan half of the field. The Titans played with an equally strong game, with both teams trading corner kicks and many indirect penalty kicks. The Lady Vikes made good crosses and shots on goal and even one attempted bicycle kick shot, but despite their endeavors, neither team scored in the last half of the match.

“The first time around they beat us, and we didn’t think they were the better team but they beat us fair and square,” assistant coach Eric Seedman said. “So our girls were really pushing it for this game and it showed on the field.”

Seedman attributes the victory to their powerful start to the match.

“If they [the players] come out with that kind of energy every game, they’re gonna win most of their games,” Seedman said.

Palo Alto will play Saratoga High School today at Saratoga.