A Los Gatos lacrosse player sprints toward the goal, fakes left, fakes right, then swiftly heaves a 70-mile an hour toss at the net. While most people's reaction would be to duck or run, junior Gavin Peake calmly catches the ball in the mesh of his glove.

As the sole goalie on the varsity lacrosse team, Peake is essential to the Falcons' success, yet most people forget just how much pressure rests on the shoulders of the goalie.

"Sometimes it's all lot of pressure on me if we're in a close game, then the team blames me if I'm supposed to save it, but I understand that," said Peake.

Freshman goalkeeper Ally Nilan-Axline started her varsity soccer career off in style. In her first regular season game, she stopped many shots from Wilcox on Jan. 7, resulting in a 1-1 tie. After playing preseason on the JV team, Nilan-Axline was given the opportunity to move up to varsity earlier that week as senior Jan Iyer recovered from an injury.

"My dad had always encouraged me to do varsity and he was really happy when I got to move up. I think this is just going to be a really good team especially since I have a great defense," said Nilan-Axline.