Vikings slip and slide past Spartans

It wasn't pretty, but Puyallup overcame a lackluster performance to fend off the Sumner Spartans, 16-10, to record its first sweep of the season. The win also improved the Vikings record to 9-0.Things started off just fine for the Viks as they rolled to a quick 5-0 lead in the first quarter. Paige Boyer and Joanna Boschee' both added two goals each during the fast start. The fast start soon cooled though as Summner scored two goals in the last minute of the quarter to cut the lead to 5-2. The second quarter belonged to Boschee' offensively as the rest of the Vikings struggled with staying off the bottom in the shallow end. Several Puyallup goals were called off by off the bottom calls. In the meantime Sumner cut the Viking lead in half, 8-4, going into halftime. The third quarter saw the Viks emerge from the fog and outscore the Sparts 5-1. Several Vikings got in on the scoring act. Boschee' added her sixth goal of the day and Boyer, Bianca Jimenez, and Brenda Pogue all added a goal each.The fourth frame got a little messy as Hope Mahnken, who had played solid defense all game long, picked up her third ejection foul on a questionable two hand up call and was done for the game. Boyer also picked up her second ejection on the same play as she was whistled for two hands up while defending the point. Sumner took advantage of the foul situation and outscored Puyallup 4-1 over the final 5 minutes. But the Vikings already had goals from Lauren Griffin, Sam Evans, Boschee'and Boyer to withstand the Sumner scoring barrage and recorded win number nine on the season. The Vikings return to action on Thursday with a third trip to the Auburn pool to play Auburn at 5 pm. Puyallup will return home Friday to play their first home game in a month when it takes on league leading Enumclaw at 7:30 pm.