Boys’ lacrosse (2-5 overall, 1-3 Peninsula Bay League) fell in a back-and-forth battle to Palo Alto High School on Tuesday, April 9, losing 9-5.

Head coach Logan Brown thought the squad was a little rusty in their first game back after a week off, which he believes led to some undisciplined play and costly mistakes. 

“I think that the team performed like they just came back from spring break, and I think they may have left their lacrosse sticks at home when they went to the beach,” Brown said.

Throughout the game, the Vikings maintained a steady lead over the Panthers. Junior Henry Bradley and senior Gavin Larkin scored two goals each, and freshman Dylan Black scored one, but their offensive efforts weren’t enough to keep pace with Palo Alto. Black, who has played club lacrosse since middle school, has had a successful high school season so far and is steadily improving.

“I can improve on being a little bit more aggressive, even though I’m a little new,” Black said. “I think for the team, if we just come out more angry to start the game, I feel like that would be better because the intensity wasn’t really up until the end of the game.”

Sophomore Ravi Krishnan also had a notable performance against Palo Alto, dominating on faceoffs and proving himself to be a formidable force in the midfield. After discovering the sport last year, Krishnan worked hard over the summer and during the off-season, attending camps and clinics to improve his skills and set himself up for a strong season. So far, he has not disappointed.

“We definitely have had better games, but our second half was better than our first half,” Krishnan said. “We have a lot of new players. Everybody looks better than our first game. [We need to improve our] lacrosse IQ and field awareness, and overall athleticism, and even just in practice, focusing a little bit more and just paying more attention to what’s going on.”

Brown believes that if the team continues to invest time off the field into conditioning and improving their stick skills, they could easily string a few wins together— and turn their season around. “We’re at a fork in the road,” Brown said. “We’ve got a lot of potential wins out there. And if we just decide to focus and pay attention, then we have potential for a season where we get to be Miss Congeniality.”

But the team has a lot of work to do if they want to get a few wins under their belt. After suffering another tough 10-3 loss to Junipero Serra High School on Thursday, April 11, the Panthers must regroup when they face off against Carlmont High School on Tuesday, April 16.