The Palo Alto High School boys water polo team (4-1) defeated Los Altos High School (2-3), 9-5 this afternoon at Paly.

Right from the start, the Vikings came out strong and were able to keep the Eagles from scoring.

“As a team, we played excellent,” senior driver Ethan Look said. “Los Altos has extremely good players, but we were able to identify their strengths and shut them down.”

The Vikings had a lot riding on this game because they had not had a victory against the Eagles in the last five years, according to Look.

Goals from seniors Matt Abbot, Sam Kelley, Will Mendenhall and freshman Andrew Jozefov started the match off strong for the Vikings.

“Our first half was stellar,” Look said. “We held on to our lead to win the game.”

With another victory in league play, the Vikings plan to work hard before their next match in order to put up a fight against their crosstown rival Henry M. Gunn high school, whom Paly has already lost to once this season, 14-7.

“We have a huge game on Thursday versus Gunn,” Look said. “We are going to ride our momentum from this game and come back with guns blazing and take back the win that Gunn took from us.”

The Vikings take on the Titans at 6:45 p.m. on Thursday Oct. 10, at the Gunn pool.