The Wildcats opened the week with an exciting 2-0 win over Gunn, but they finished the week with a disappointing 2-1 loss to first-place Palo Alto on a goal off a free kick in the final moments of play.

First place in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League's De Anza Division was on the line when the Cats visited Paly on Jan. 29.

The Vikings took the early lead when Kat Stolpa scored in the 11th minute, but Gatos tied it with a goal by Brittany Shand in the 33rd minute of play.

That's how it remained until the 74thh minute of the game when Lisa Johnson scored on a free kick outside of the penalty box to give the Vikes the win.

There were five yellow cards in the hard-fought game, three against Paly and two against the Cats, and each team had just four shots on goal.

The win helped Palo Alto improve to 7-1 in the division and 11-2-2 for the year. Los Gatos slipped to 5-2-2 in league play and to 9-4-2 for the season.

Earlier in the week, Ashley Benson scored an unassisted goal and Monica Rude scored off an assist from Ashley Dix to lead the Wildcats past Gunn 2-0. The clubs had been locked in a scoreless tie through the first half before Benson broke the deadlock with her second-half goal.

The Gatos girls faced a Tuesday bye this week, but they'll be back on their home turf to host Cupertino On Feb. 5, 3:30 p.m.