Paly’s varsity girls’ lacrosse team remains in first place in its division after beating Woodside High School on Friday at Paly, 12-2.

Despite a sloppy start, the Vikings dominated the field and left little room for Woodside to attack.

“It wasn’t as crisp and as clean as I would like it to be, but they [the Vikings] got the job done,” coach Jen Gray said.

Senior co-captain Caroline Lucas-Conwell scored the first goal off a pass from junior Sam Herzog. Within moments, Woodside zipped past the Vikings and scored itself, bringing the score to 1-1.

In the next minute, the Vikings seized the offense and Herzog landed her first goal. After several tussles over ground balls, freshman Kimmie Flather scored on a practically open goal, bringing the score to 3-1.

Following a complex series of passes, senior co-captain Helene Zahoudanis received the ball from junior Mari Wilson and scored, establishing the Vikings’ three-point lead over Woodside.

However, the Vikings continued to unsuccessfully pass around Woodside’s goal without shooting for several minutes.

According to Gray, Paly would have been more successful with smoother passes.

“They could have done better on throwing and catching cleanly,” Gray said. “They weren’t very smooth with their connections.”

Junior Emily Kenyon broke the dry spell after being fouled. She scored from the 8-meter arc, bringing the score to 5-1.

More passing ensued and Paly held onto its offensive position. Herzog made another goal and Lucas-Conwell made two more by the half.

After another round of Paly passing, Lucas-Conwell smacked past the Woodside defenders and landed an impressive fourth goal.

Several tussles later, sophomore Hannah Ohlson was fouled near the goal and given a shot from the 8-meter arc, which was successful. Soon after, junior Brianna Boyd zipped out from behind the goal and scored, pulling Paly ahead by 10 points. Junior Lauren Traube, who usually is a defender, brought in the last Paly goal of the game.

After a long time out, Woodside shot past the Vikings and scored, bringing the final score to 12-2.

Traube believed that Woodside played well despite its loss.

“They improved from last time,” Traube said. “Last time they [Woodside] didn’t score at all so they definitely had better defense and attack today.”

Gray agrees that the game was much closer than it appeared.

“Even though the score didn’t reflect it, I think the game was a lot closer this time,” Gray said. “Their [Woodside’s] stick skills have gotten a lot better and they seem a lot more confident. I don’t think my girls were expecting it.”

Additionally, many of the Vikings were able to try new positions during the game. Traube and Kenyon, who usually are defenders, scored their first goals of the season as offenders, while sophomore goalie Laura Cutkosky played attack.

Because of the success of Traube, Kenyon, and Cutkosky, Gray named them the standout players of the game.

The team will play in the Western States tournament at 8 a.m. on Saturday at Stanford. Its next league game is against Notre Dame at 4 p.m. on Tuesday at Paly.