Photo credits to Andrew Zhao
On Thursday evening, the boys’ lacrosse team earned a comfortable 13-5 senior night victory over the Palo Alto (Paly) Vikings. The game marked the end of the regular season and put an exclamation point on the Bears’ 19-1 record.
Reflecting on the night, senior Baron Kadivar said, “It was a ton of fun, we were able to get all the seniors out on the field––we couldn’t have asked for a better senior night.”
After celebrating M-A’s 11 graduating seniors, the game got underway with junior Eric Torre winning the initial face-off. Senior Jack Kryger wasted no time getting M-A on the board, firing a shot after only 43 seconds and putting the Bears up 1-0.
M-A’s offense continued their hot start with two more goals from seniors Ben Timm and Peter Koren, extending the lead to 3-0 with nine minutes left to play in the first quarter. Despite the early adversity, the Vikings fought back, scoring two goals in five minutes.
The Bears returned the hit with another goal from Koren, as well as a goal from senior Mikey Sanford with under a minute left in the opening quarter. Paly tacked on a third goal with five seconds left, making the first quarter end in a 5-3 advantage for M-A.
The Bears dialed in defensively in the second quarter, with junior goalkeeper Olivier Yuk making multiple big saves and senior Oskar Flodh physically dominating the back field. Junior Colin Kryger soon got his first goal of the night, accompanied by another goal from Sanford to make the score 7-3. The Vikings were able to grab another goal before the half, but the Bears remained in control.
Despite the lead, the team was not satisfied. Senior Rex Yeh said, “At halftime, we really turned it around. We started playing a lot faster, we were a lot sharper, and we started playing how we know we should be.”
Koren started to take over in the third quarter, scoring two quick goals in the first five minutes. Paly put together a nice string of passes to earn their fifth and final goal of the night, but Koren roared right back down the field for his fifth goal. As the third quarter expired, Colin Kryger scored his second goal, bumping M-A’s lead up to six heading into the final period of play.
The Bears shifted into cruise control for the final quarter, dominating possession for almost the entire span. Senior Ryder Genauer got a senior night goal of his own on an amazing string of passes by M-A. Shortly after, Koren added his sixth and final goal with an incredible long-range shot. The final buzzer sounded with M-A winning 13-5, and the Bears rushed the field in jubilation.
The team will now participate in the CCS Division I playoffs after finishing the regular season 19-1 and undefeated in league play. Looking ahead on the schedule, Flodh said, “We just need to keep our effort high. We started pretty slow today and we just need to come out of the gate with more intensity.”
The Bears will host a playoff game next Friday night, and their opponent is yet to be determined.
