Senior Emily Brown got the Palo Alto girls' soccer team on the board, but it wasn't enough as visiting Mountain View pulled out a 2-1 victory in SCVAL De Anza Division action on Friday. The Vikings dropped to 0-1-1 in league (3-3-2 overall).
Despite getting an early corner kick and three other scoring opportunities, Palo Alto was out-shot in the first half by 4-2 as the teams battled to a scoreless deadlock. Paly was caught off guard 15 seconds into the second half, leading to Mountain View's first goal of the game by Morgan Matthews.
The game went back and forth, each team matching shot for shot. With 25 minutes gone in the second half, Paly got lucky when the Spartans took a beautiful shot that just skimmed the cross bar. Paly re-organized its offense with consecutive crosses right in front of the goal before Jordan Smith crossed a ball to Brown, who finished with a one-touch goal.
Mountain View answered with an aggressive run down the field, outrunning Paly's midfield. Paly keeper Erin Chang came out of the goal and stopped a shot with her foot. However, MV's Erica Higa took possession of the loose ball and finished a shot into an open goal for a 2-1 lead. In stoppage time, the excitement continued as Paly's Smith was fouled right outside the box. Mayssen Labidi took the free kick, which was just barely stopped by MV keeper Sarah Bennett. Paly had another scoring opportunity with a corner kick, but was not able to equalize.
posted by Palo Alto Online on Jan 6, 2012 at 8:50 pm
Jordan Smith of Palo Alto (left) looks to maneuver while controlling the ball against Mountain View on Friday. Photo by Al Chang.
Palo Alto senior Terra Jones looks to gain control of a loose ball during the Vikings' 2-1 loss to visiting Mountain View on Friday. Photo by Al Chang.
