Paly’s girls’ soccer team will compete in the Central Coast Section Division I championships for the first time in 20 years on Saturday, following Wednesday’s impressive 1-0 semifinal victory over No. 2-seeded Woodside High School at Valley Christian High School in San Jose.
The game against Woodside was arguably one of the best and most competitive that Paly has played all season. Both teams played commendably, and, as the score shows, the game was a tight contest
At the beginning of the first half, however, both teams took a little while to get their rhythms. For the first 10 minutes of the game, neither team was able to put together any sort of passing game, and both teams’ defenses were simultaneously shutting down any attempts to do so.
Starting around the 11th minute, though, Paly began to show signs of the superb passing and movement that have been the hallmarks of its recent playing. Slowly but surely, the Vikings began to spend more time in the Woodside half and have more chances on goal. By 20 minutes in, halfway through the first half, it was clear that Paly had found its stride.
Woodside was not far behind, however. Only five minutes later, the Wildcats began to create scoring chances and tap into their prodigious speed and overall athleticism. From this point on, both teams looked set to win.
Woodside’s highly athletic, fast-break style of play allowed the team to transition from defense to full-force offense and take shots on goal in a hurry. Paly responded with intricate passing plays and runs by midfielders and forwards, uncovering or creating holes in the Woodside defense through which the Vikings were able to take clear shots at the Woodside goal. All of this went on in tandem with resourceful, hard-nosed defense from both teams.
Throughout the entire game, the two teams’ drastically different playing styles coexisted: neither team conformed to the other’s style of play.
According to Paly head coach Ernesto Cruz, the Vikings made a point of keeping their playing style the same for the Woodside game.
“We didn’t change anything [in preparation for the Woodside game],” Cruz said. “We just came here, played the way we’ve been playing the last games, and got the results, just the way we play.”
Play continued for the rest of the half with Paly and Woodside trading punch for punch. Paly controlled most of the possession and had a number of scoring chances over the course of the half, but the Wildcats took control of the game for three or four minutes just before the end of regulation time. In just these few minutes, Woodside took four shots, three of them on goal.
The Paly defense was beginning to look disorganized, and Woodside would have scored were it not for great goaltending from sophomore goalie Alex Kershner. Luckily, Paly’s offense soon countered the Woodside attack and began to put significant pressure on the defense. The Vikings knocked the Wildcats back on their heels and forced the Woodside goalie to make a great diving save on a shot by junior forward Kelly Jenks to keep the game tied. The half ended soon thereafter, 0-0.
At the beginning of the second half, Woodside came out strong and seemed to catch Paly off guard with a couple of quick shots, on which Kershner made the critical saves. A few minutes later, the Vikings recovered their first-half panache and began to slow the game down and control the flow of play.
Cal Poly-bound center midfielders Sammi Bengston and Jessie Duller once again looked as comfortable as they had in the half, dancing around Woodside defenders in the midfield and executing passes and runs bordering on artistic.
All of the other Paly players followed suit, and the Vikings began to spread out and use more and more of the field, moving the ball quickly between players and from sideline to sideline. It was not uncommon for one Paly possession to consist of seven passes and to incorporate defenders, midfielders, and forwards alike.
“I think we played really well,” Duller said. “We were all just on and it was a really good game.”
According to Cruz, Bengston and Duller played a huge part in controlling the game.
“They’re superstars right there, Sammi [Bengston] and [Jessie] Duller,” Cruz said. “They should be Division I [in college].”
Paly came to such a strong position of control in the game that from about nine until 13 minutes into the half, the ball never left Woodside’s defensive zone. Only a few minutes later, in the 17th minute of the second half, Paly scored off of a powerful header by junior forward Maeve Stewart, who managed to leap high enough to clear several, much taller Woodside defenders surrounding her. Stewart’s header came off of the rebound from another header by Jenks, itself from a beautiful Duller corner kick.
Stewart said the goal was a relief, as she was anxious to get Paly on the scoreboard.
“It felt great,” Stewart said. “It had been tied for so long, and it was kind of getting towards the end, and I was getting worried; I really didn’t want to go into overtime. So, just scoring, I can’t even explain how great it felt.”
Woodside got right back into the game, and Paly had to rely once again on Kershner’s goalkeeping prowess to keep the score at 1-0. Still unable to score, some Wildcats became frustrated and the game quickly became much more physical than it had been.
According to junior midfielder Erika Hoglund, the combination of the hard Astroturf field and a physical game left the team with battle scars.
“I think almost half the team has places where they’re bleeding and cut up, but it’s worth it; the team played really hard,” Hoglund said. “[The cuts are] signs of the hard work.”
Woodside made things interesting in the game’s last few minutes with a few scoring opportunities, but those were rebuffed thanks to Kershner’s clutch goaltending and Paly’s scrappy defense, and the Vikings held on to win, 1-0.
After the final whistle, Bengston related the excitement of the game and its final minutes.
“I just wanted to win this game so bad, and it was so close down to those last minutes, and we were just trying to keep it [the ball] out of the [Paly] goal, and I’m just really happy we won,” Bengston said. “I couldn’t be happier.”
Woodside head coach Jose Navarrete, who coaches Jenks’ club soccer team, praised both his own team and the Vikings for playing as well as they did and putting on such an impressive show.
“Boy, I wish I could be watching it instead of coaching it; it was a great game,” Navareete said. “Paly is a great team. We [Woodside] knew we had to play well to beat them. We played well, they made the plays when they had to make them, we didn’t; all the credit to them.”
The celebration was ecstatic; Paly players genuinely jumped for joy and proceeded to run towards the stands in one huge group, laughing and crying out triumphantly all the while. Even 15 minutes after the end of the game, Paly players and coaches could not stop smiling.
After the game, Hoglund expressed what everyone on the team seemed to be feeling.
“This is actually like the most exciting thing that’s ever happened to me,” Hoglund said. “We actually have a really good shot to win [the championship], and the boys do, too, so we’re looking for a Paly sweep, and we’re very excited.”
Cruz summed up the Vikings’ remarkable playoff run in one sentence.
“Man, this is a dream,” Cruz said.
Paly and Monta Vista are both in the De Anza division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, and played each other twice during the regular season, each team winning once.
According to Jenks, the fact that Paly and Monta Vista are familiar with each other should make for a good game.
“We’ve played Monta Vista before, so we know what to expect, so it’ll be a really good battle,” Jenks said.
Paly, seeded sixth in the tournament, will play first-seeded Monta Vista High School at 10 a.m. on Saturday at Valley Christian High School in San Jose.