GIRLS SOCCER: Red-hot Dons Win Sixth Straight

The Score: Aragon 1, Menlo-Atherton 0.

The Star: Aragon High’s Rachel Killigrew, who timed her leap perfectly to head in a shot off a free kick from Kat McAuliffe for the lone goal of the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division game.

The Turning Point: Aragon goalie Ashley Lentz’s save in the eighth minute off of a shot by Menlo-Atherton’s Lindsay Keare seemed to wake up the Dons as they started keeping the ball in the Bears’ half of the field for most of the game afterwards.

The Quote: "We’ve got our mojo back.” – Aragon coach Will Colglazier, whose team has won six straight games.

What's Next? Aragon hosts San Mateo on Tuesday at 3 p.m. in a rematch of a Jan. 13 game that San Mateo won 1-0.

The Bottom Line: Less than three weeks ago, the Dons were 0-2-2 and anything but a harmonious group after losing to San Mateo. Since then Aragon has won six straight games, outscoring their opponents 12-1. Aragon is playing like a team with every intention of catching and passing the first-place Bearcats for the Peninsula Athletic League’s Bay Division title.

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After the first four games in the Peninsula Athletic League’s Bay Division, no one could believe that the Aragon High girls soccer team was as bad as a 0-2-2 record would indicate.

“We knew we were better than that,” said Aragon High coach Will Colglazer.

Six games later, so does everyone else as the Dons collected their sixth consecutive victory – fifth by shutout – after defeating Menlo-Atherton 1-0 on the Bears’ home pitch on Thursday.  

“We’ve got our mojo back,” Colglazer said after the match.

Aragon’s mojo was nonexistent just three weeks ago, especially after a tough 1-0 loss to San Mateo on Jan. 13 that left the Dons in a very foul mood.

“But the very next day we had a fun practice,” Colglazer said.

That fun seems to have carried over as the Dons (10-2-4, 6-2-2 PAL Bay) have outscored their opponents 12-1 over the last six games as Aragon has started to find its scoring touch.

“We shook that monkey off our back,” Colglazer said.

Thursday’s game was a tightly contested defensive struggle with very few scoring chances presenting themselves to either team. Menlo-Atherton (8-6-2, 3-6-1 PAL Bay) had the first chance in the eighth minute as Lindsay Keare fired a shot on goal. But Aragon keeper Ashley Lentz collected the shot and kept the Bears off the board.

The near miss seemed to ignite the Dons’ offense as they kept the ball in M-A’s half for most of the game. A free kick in the 22nd minute by Kat McAuliffe deep in the Bears’ half found Rachel Killigrew in front of the net and the co-captain found the back of the net for what proved to be the only score of the game.

“This game was a grind,” Colglazer said. “Our captains really stepped up for us.”

M-A picked up the pace in the second half and generated some late breakaways, but the Dons’ defense never let the Bears seriously threaten the goal.

"We had a few good breakaways, we just didn’t put them away,” said M-A coach Paul Snow. “That one set piece did us in.”

Aragon, No. 5 in , hosts No. 4 San Mateo on Tuesday. The Dons, who moved into second place in the PAL Bay with their win and Woodside's loss on Thursday, will be looking to avenge an earlier loss and to move within two points of league-leading San Mateo.

Menlo-Atherton, sitting in sixth place, will travel to fifth-place Carlmont on Tuesday. The Bears must win at least three of their last four games to have any hope of making the playoffs as an at-large team. The Bay Division’s top three finishers are automatic qualifiers.

“I’m optimistic that we can make it in,” Snow said.

Last year, the Bears were fifth in the PAL Bay and just missed qualifying for the postseason by a handful of points.

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Aragon 1, Menlo-Atherton 0

At Menlo-Atherton

Scoring: A: R. Killigrew (McAuliffe) 22:00.

Records: Aragon 10-2-4, 6-2-2 PAL Bay. M-A 8-6-2, 3-6-1.