Bgame moves into 3-way tie atop PAL Bay

Well, wouldn’t you know it? Burlingame and Woodside each scored victories in matchups with the respective Bay Division leaders. Burlingame traveled to Aragon to shut out the Lady Dons 2-0. Woodside reveled on its home field to blank Menlo-Atherton by the same score of 2-0.

“There is not a single team you can relax with,” Burlingame head coach Phil De Rosa said of the parity in the PAL Bay Division. “… Every single game, all six teams, it is a friggin’ battleground.”

Three teams — Aragon, Burlingame and M-A each have 14 points — are now tied for first place heading into the final week of the regular season. Woodside, with 11 points, is one win behind the division leaders with two games left to play.

The PAL Bay Division regular-season closes next Tuesday. Burlingame (4-2-2 PAL Bay, 12-2-4 overall) will have the toughest road, facing M-A later this week before closing the season against Woodside.

“We all agree this thing is going to be decided next Tuesday,” De Rosa said. “And that was thought at the beginning of the year, that it was going to be decided on the last day of the season.”

Senior midfielder Julia Mitchell and freshman defender Ella Macko delivered goals for Burlingame. The Panthers go on the board in the 32nd minute on Mitchell’s fifth goal of the year. The junior drove up the right side and passed into the box, but the ball got passed back out to Mitchell as she closed on the end line. She cut the angle though to break the scoreless tie.

“It was from really a difficult angle,” De Rosa said. “It was just a perfectly placed shot.”

The score stayed that way until late in the second half. Aragon (4-2-2, 9-4-3) was pressuring, and got its fair amount of looks. Senior midfielder Jayla Stokesberry had good chances with good set pieces, but nothing to show for it.

The Dons put 11 shots on goal, with Burlingame goalkeeper Sophia Young producing seven saves.

“We out-possessed them quite a bit,” Aragon head coach Michael Flynn said. “They played pretty direct. We knew they were going to. … Burlingame did a very good job of trying to close down our midfield. They bunkered in and made us beat ourselves today.”

Then in the second half, Aragon lost its defensive left back, sophomore Marcie Chan, to an ankle injury. Her departure proved costly for the Dons.

“Once she went out, Burlingame really started to push up that side,” Flynn said.

In the 75th minute, the Lady Panthers capitalized when Macko broke through. The freshman has four goals and three assists on the year, but even De Rosa was surprised with her run in the closing minutes to put the game away.

“It’s kind of ironic,” De Rosa said. “We’re holding and they’re attacking trying to get an equalizer … and she took the ball right down to the corner and took one shot. It came back to her … and she just rifled just a dead-on shot. It was just a rocket into the far post.”

Aragon finishes the season with two road games, traveling to Terra Nova Thursday before closing next week at Carlmont.

Woodside emerges in second half

After a scoreless tie at halftime, Woodside (3-3-2, 8-7-3) produced two scores to take down M-A (4-2-2, 6-8-3).

Sophomore forward Katherine Sheldon got the Wildcats on the board in the 53rd minute. McKenzie Baur sent in a corner kick and was deflected by the M-A keeper. Sheldon came up with the rebound though and quickly converted for her second goal of the year.

“She has two, but none was bigger than today,” Woodside head coach Jose Navarrete said.

Then in the 77th minute, Woodside came out of an injury timeout and put the game away. This time it was freshman Elise Arana on a through ball from midfielder Rebecca Weeks to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.

Arana is one of nine freshmen on Woodside’s varsity roster this year.

“All of them have really contributed,” Navarrete said. “I’m really happy they’re here. … I don’t even know if they know what CCS is. But they’re playing hard.”