With the season hanging in the balance, the Palo Alto High School boys soccer team (5-8-4) played relentless defense to tie the Homestead Mustangs (11-2-5) 1-1 Friday at home on Senior Night.
According to Viking senior captain Cole Baker, the game was critical in order to advance to the Central Coast Section playoffs, but left the team in playoff limbo.
“We [Vikings] wanted to win to lock a CCS spot, but now it’s up to the committee and what we do on Tuesday,” Baker said.
The Vikings started the game when Viking senior Oliver Payne found the back of the net off a clean pass from Viking senior Max Merkel, putting Paly on the board with 30 minutes still left in the first half.
Momentum briefly shifted when a foul was called on the Vikings, followed by a yellow card issued to the Homestead coach for arguing with a referee. The Mustangs earned a free kick but failed to convert, leading to several back-and-forth possessions with no shots attempted on the goal.
For the remainder of the first half, the match settled into a competitive back-and-forth battle near Paly’s defensive half. With minutes left in the first half, the Mustangs sent a shot toward the net, but senior goalkeeper Ronan Teetzel came up with a crucial save to keep the Vikings in control.
The first half ended 1-0, with the Vikings in the lead.
Viking senior Khrisar Magana said the support from the bench fueled his performance.
“For me, this is my second game playing because I had a hamstring injury that had me out for 10 weeks,” Magana said. “I was always on the bench rooting for my team, but now that I’m in the game, I can finally feel my teammates cheering for me.”
The Mustangs started the second half by converting a free kick into the goal, tying the game at 1-1. The Mustangs continued to pressure on offense with multiple scoring chances, but could not convert against the Vikings’ defense.
After another foul on Viking senior Santiago Sanchez halfway through the second half, Homestead threatened again, even earning a penalty, but the Vikings’ goalkeeper Ronan Teetzel saved the attempts to keep the score level.. The Vikings found brief moments on offense and earned a free kick of their own, but Homestead controlled much of the possession and applied steady pressure for the remainder of the game.
The match ultimately ended in a 1-1 tie.
The Vikings bid farewell to 17 seniors this year, who were given a walk-out before the game started. The 17 seniors are: #0, Baha Baja Baku, #2 Hadrien de Martel, #3 Max Merkel, #4 Cole Baker, #5 James Park, #6 Will Stover, #8 Santiago Sanchez, #9 Ronan Teetzel, #10 Max Nicole, #11 Liam Johnson, #18 Brendan King, #19 Oliver Payne, #21 Tristan Battumur, #23 Alessio Dorigo, #24 Lucas Lew Strass, #26 Khrisar Magana, #27 Naveen Narayanaswami.
According to Viking head coach Luiz Lodino, his goal for the seniors is to have them carry their passion for soccer into their future.
“We have seniors that have fun and will leave this season really liking soccer and wanting to play more,” Lodino said. “Don’t stop now, no matter what college they go to or how hard it is, keep playing.”
Viking senior Santiago Sanchez said the team has a lot on the line for its next game.
“As of right now, we are very close to making CCS,” Sanchez said. “If we won this game, we would for sure make CCS. So we just have to focus on the next game, Saratoga on Tuesday, and we just have to win that game.”
The Vikings will play the Saratoga High School Falcons on Tuesday (4-13-2) night at 6 p.m. at Saratoga High School.
