BThe Palo Alto boys' soccer team remained competitive, but unsuccessful, following a 2-0 loss o visiting Saratoga in a SCVAL De Anza Division match on Friday. The last-place Vikings, only a few years removed from tying for a CCS title, fell to 0-8-2 in league (0-14-4 overall) while the second-place Falcons moved to 6-2-1 (10-4-1).
Paly played Saratoga even in the first half as the teams battled to a scoreless deadlock. The Vikings played well defensively and had the ball in the Falcons' half most of the time. Several near-scoring opportunities were stopped by the Saratoga keeper.
The second half continued with both teams having several shots on goal. The game opened up when Paly was called for a foul in the 20th minute of the second half with Saratoga scoring on a long direct kick. The final goal occurred with just minutes remaining when Paly was pushing additional players up in an attempt to score the equalizer.
posted by Palo Alto Online on Feb 3, 2012 at 7:17 pm