SAN JOSE – A stifling defense carried Palo Alto to a 2-0 win at Pioneer in a CCS Open Division girls soccer match Saturday evening.
The fifth-seeded Vikings (13-4-2) advanced to the semifinals, where they will take on No. 1 Archbishop Mitty, a 2-1 winner over Menlo-Atherton. The season is over for Pioneer (15-2-4), the champions of the BVAL-Mount Hamilton Division.
Senior goalkeeper Clara Luehrs posted the shutout, but did not face a single shot on goal as center backs Isabella Bonomi and Lindsay North were near perfect in shutting down the Pioneer attack. Pioneer had just two shots the entire evening, neither of which threatened Luehrs’ goal.
Meanwhile, the engine of Palo Alto’s 4-3-3 attack was humming as center mids Leela Srinivasan, Emily Tomz and Khadija Abid were dominant all night. However, it was winger Frida Rivera who opened the scoring, heading in a cross from junior Claire Chen that bounced in the penalty area. Rivera reached the ball just before Pioneer goalkeeper Emily Keller and headed it in to make it 1-0 in the 14th minute.
Senior left back Ally Scheve made it 2-0 just before halftime with a blast from 30 yards out into the upper right corner off a short pass from Tom.
Palo Alto took on more of a defensive posture in the second half, as Pioneer pushed forward in an attempt to get back into the game. Junior forward Venus Sandoval nearly scored on a breakaway in the 67th minute when she stole the ball near midfield, but her shot missed just wide right.
Pioneer’s best chance came in the waning moments of the match when a header by sophomore Nina Isaka went just wide of the left post off the team’s only corner kick of the match. Palo Alto out-shot Pioneer 12-2, though the Vikings forced Keller into only two saves.
