The boys lacrosse team fell short against the Palo Alto (Paly) Vikings, 7-6, in overtime nail-biter on Tuesday night.
With Paly securing the face-off, the Bears got an early defensive stand and freshman defender Dylan Kryger forced a quick turnover. Senior attacker Carey Wolf gathered the ball and weaved his way from behind the goal to wrap a shot around the goalkeeper for the first goal of the game for M-A, 1-0, with 10:35 left.
However, the Bears couldn’t hold onto this lead for long, as early struggles on the defensive end gave Paly an opportunity to score, bringing the game to a 1-1 tie two minutes later.
The Vikings held promising control of the ball, but junior defenders Marco Palacios and Teddy Honerkamp stepped up with physicality on defense. Wolf gained possession and found junior attacker Zachary Sokol cutting through the middle, and a smooth behind-the-back move allowed Sokol to sneak it into the back of the net, putting M-A back ahead 2-1.
Still, the Vikings were quick with a response and scored on a bounce shot past the goalkeeper, notching the score up to 2-2 to end the first quarter.
The Bears’ offense secured consistent possession throughout the majority of the second quarter, but had nothing to show for it. Wolf couldn’t connect on multiple attempts, and M-A started to force shots. Once Paly eventually obtained control of the ball, they didn’t hesitate and snuck another shot into the goal to increase their lead to 3-2 with 4:08 left.
After another blocked M-A attempt, the Vikings found space in transition, creating another shot and cashing it in to make it 4-2 with Paly ahead, going into halftime.
To begin the third quarter, M-A struggled on both sides of the field. The Bears were still unable to find any openings offensively, and defensive miscommunication continued to plague M-A. Because of this, the Vikings were able to slip a player into the middle for an easy shot on goal. Moments later, a loose ball rolled past the defense to open up a one-on-one with the Bears’ goalkeeper where Paly scooped a shot into the goal, extending M-A’s deficit to 6-2 with 5:15 left in the third quarter.
The Bears finally started connecting on offense as junior attacker Will Torre found senior attacker Matthew Sanford, who drilled a shot into the back of the net to cut the Vikings’ advantage to 6-3 at the end of the third quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter, Sokol found a lane to receive the ball and scored his second goal of the game, chipping away at Paly’s lead, 6-4. Minutes later, a dominant defensive stand by Palacios resulted in a turnover. M-A converted off this, as Sanford swiftly got off a shot, bringing the Bears within one, 6-5 with 6:47 left in the game.
Paly answered once again by scoring, but it was quickly called off from a penalty, giving M-A hope to continue their comeback. Using this momentum, Kryger stormed down the field and buried the shot to tie the game 6-6 with 2:16 remaining in the game.
M-A took possession of the ball off the faceoff, taking it down to the final second, but junior attacker Will Torre’s shot landed just wide, ending regulation even and pushing the game into overtime.
Early into overtime, the Vikings got the ball hustling down the field, getting through the defense and sealing the game with another clutch shot that bounced off the post and in to finish 7-6, a victory for Paly.
“They weren’t physically better than us at all. We made mental mistakes that cost us the game,” Palacios said.
“We made lots of mistakes and we were walking around. They outhustled us big time,” Wolf said.
The Bears will travel to face Woodside Priory on Thursday at 4 p.m.
