The Los Gatos girls soccer team was dominating Palo Alto early on in their Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division match on Jan. 5. Then suddenly, in the sixth minute of play, the Vikings struck for a goal.

"Los Gatos came out strong initially and were set back with a surprise strike on goal within the first 10 minutes," said Gatos coach Jan Eric Nordmo.

Paly's Austinn Freeman scored in the sixth minute to put her team on top, but Monica Rude came back in the 15th minute to score off a Samantha Mason assist to tie it. Freeman struck again, though, and her goal in the 24th minute put Paly back on top.

"Los Gatos pushed up after losing a bit of confidence and equalized in the middle of first half, but were quickly set back later in the half with a 2-1 score," added Nordmo. "Palo Alto hit the post and had a few more opportunities but could not put it away in the end of the first half."

"The second half was a lot of Los Gatos pushing in the Palo Alto half," said Nordmo, "and the second equalizer midway through gave Los Gatos a charge of energy."

Rude scored again, this time off an assist from Susie Brewster in the 58th minute, and that's how things would wind up--in a 2-2 tie. But the Wildcats had their chances.

"Both outside backs from Los Gatos pressured deep into Palo Alto territory, especially Samantha Mason, putting the Palo Alto side on their heels," said Nordmo. "Late in the second half Los Gatos was controlling most of the match. A couple of late flurries on the Palo Alto goal could not be realized and both teams walked away thinking they could have won it."

"It was a very evenly matched game," he added.

The tie left the Wildcats 1-0-2 in league play and 8-2-3 for the year. Los Gatos was to face Saratoga on Friday, but rain forced cancellation of the game. It has been rescheduled for Jan. 24, 3:30 p.m., at Los Gatos.

The Wildcats will visit Gunn on Jan. 12, 3:30 p.m., to continue league play.

Before the winter break, the Los Gatos girls battled Mountain View to a 1-1 tie. Andrea Nelson scored in the 58th minute for the Spartans, but Katie Bonadies scored off a Melissa Shawhan assist in the 70th minute to tie it at one.

Bonadies, rude and Corynn Carino were standouts in the game for the Wildcats, who outshot the Spartans 25-9 and topped MV in corner kicks 6-0.

Gatos boys split

The Los Gatos boys soccer team split a pair of decisions last week in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL. The Cats lost 3-1 to Cupertino, but came back to blank Saratoga 2-0. Gatos is now 3-1 in the division and 4-5-1 for the year.

Goals by Jeremy Cleveland and Kevin Bakken sparked the Wildcats to the win over the Falcons.