Despite a slow start, the Paly varsity girls’ lacrosse team (11-1) emerged victorious over Los Gatos High School, 9-5 on Friday, securing the West Bay Athletic League-Skyline Division co-championship title.
The Vikings share their title with Burlingame High School (11-1), as both teams lost only to each other in tough matches throughout the season. The Vikings impressive stick work in the Los Gatos game demonstrated the incredible potential they hold for the playoffs, although there are certain areas the team could still brush up on.
“We have to win the possession game and make all of our shots count,” assistant coach Mark Dahm said. “We also must be able to win ground balls by getting there first, particularly in the beginning [of each game]. I was surprised by how flat we were initially today.”
Los Gatos controlled the field for the first seven minutes by winning all of the face-off draws and ground balls. The Wildcats scored two quick goals before the Vikings shaped up, responding with two goals from freshman attacker Kimmie Flather, equalizing the score at 2-2.
After junior attacker Brianna Boyd scored, Los Gatos ramped up its offense. The Wildcats cradled the ball up the field to make three breakaway shots, but none of them passed senior goalie Anna Bastidas. On the Vikings offensive end, junior attacker Sam Herzog shot the ball cleanly into Los Gatos’s goal, ending the first half with a 4-2 Paly lead.
The second half opened with a series of remarkable saves from sophomore goalie Lara Cutkosky. The Vikings fouled their opponents repeatedly within the eight-meter arc, but Cutkosky skillfully prevented all three shots from slipping into the goal. On the third save, she attempted a pass to senior defender Helene Zahoudanis, but the ball fell to the ground. Immediately, sophomore Emily Benatar scooped it up and sprinted to the other end of the field, launching in a momentous goal in the first two minutes.
Later on, junior midfielder Emily Fowler was awarded a free shot of a Los Gatos foul, and sent the ball flying into the net. Los Gatos soon scored after with a grease roll, but sophomore midfielder Gracie Cain seized control of the ball after the draw to score with 16:08 left, bringing the score to 6-4.
With 10 minutes remaining, the Wildcats charged up the field and scored, bringing the score to 7-4. The Vikings quickly responded with another goal from Flather. When the clock ticked down to 3:51, senior attack Caroline Lucas-Conwell tossed the ball past several Los Gatos players into Flather’s stick. Flather tried to score but was guarded well, causing her to pass the ball to Benatar who landed her second goal of the game. At this point, Los Gatos’ varsity coach Megan Steck called a timeout.
“I felt that they [Los Gatos] were getting tired and letting Paly use the same tricks to score over and over again,” Steck said. “They had to do a better job of reacting to what was happening on the field the way a lacrosse player on a team would, not the way an individual athlete would.”
After play resumed, Los Gatos visibly improved its defense, not allowing a single goal the rest of the game despite losing the draw. At 0:54 remaining, Los Gatos’s Noel Painter slammed the ball into the Paly goal.
“It was an exhilarating moment, but it’s also all due to team effort,” Painter said. “It gave all of us the spirit to hustle even more in the last minute.”
Nevertheless, the Wildcats’ best efforts could not push past the determined Paly midfielders, ending the game with a 9-5 score.
“This was a great way to finish off the season to make sure we’re ready for playoffs,” Paly sophomore Leigh Dairaghi said. “It’s impressive that we managed to play the game well even though the other team was really aggressive.”
According to Steck, Los Gatos had lost by a much greater margin the last time they played against Paly.
“This was a great comeback to end the first year we’ve ever had a lacrosse team,” Steck said.
In the first round of league playoffs, the sixth-seeded Vikings will play against third-seeded Gunn High School at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Gunn.