Carlmont girls' soccer team controls the Ocean

Because of the way the Peninsula Athletic League is structured, teams are relegated and promoted between the Bay and Ocean divisions based on last year’s previous results. In 2024, the Scots went winless and finished last in the Bay Division, prompting a move to the lower-division Ocean for the 2025 season.

Perhaps the PAL should add one more team to the Bay Division because like Aragon had done the last two seasons, Carlmont is running roughshod through Ocean Division competition.

Tuesday, the Scots hosted San Mateo, which, like the Scots, was unbeaten in Ocean play so far this year. And on paper, it looked like a worthy matchup — a Scots’ squad that was 4-0 and had outscored their Ocean opponents 22-0 this season, against a Bearcats’ side that was 3-0-1 and had their own outrageous goal differential, having outscored their opposition 19-2.

In the end, Carlmont was simply too strong. The Scots scored three first-half goals and tacked on one more in the second half for good measure as they dominated in a 4-0 victory.

“We try to keep it fun,” said Carlmont head coach Jillian Quan. “We’re trying to keep the girls driven and motivated. … We have had some ups and downs this year. I hope they’re realizing that they have improved from those first few opening games.”

Those downs appeared to have ended since Carlmont (5-0 PAL Ocean, 10-4-1 overall) entered league play and the Scots didn’t wait long to let San Mateo (3-1-1, 9-2-1) it was in for a long day. After forcing three Bearcats saves in the opening minutes, the Scots finally found the back of the net when Niyati Hazari, threaded a through ball between two defenders to junior Lindsay Wong, who held them off and punched home the first goal of the game.

San Mateo seemed to tighten things up after that opening salvo and while the Bearcats never really put much pressure on the Carlmont defense, they did do a good job of keeping the ball in the midfield.

Until the final 12 minutes of the first half as Carlmont scored twice in quick succession. Wong picked up her second goal of the game in the 28th minute, on a third attempt off a corner kick. The original cross was sent into the penalty box and headed on goal by sophomore midfielder Nicole Franklin. The ball was knocked down by the San Mateo netminder and fell to a Carlmont player at the left post, whose shot skimmed off the crossbar — and landed right in line with Wong’s head, who headed it home for a 2-0 lead.

“We really emphasized following up our shots,” Quan said.

In the final minutes of the first half, Anna Jaya Motamarry, a junior, put the Scots up 3-0, again converting a corner kick. After the ball pinged around in the San Mateo penalty box, it popped loose about 15 yards from goal. Motamarry beat the defender to the ball and hit a hard, low shot into the far lower left corner.

“We’ve scored a lot off corners and set pieces,” Quan said.

The Scots completed the scoring just five minutes into the second half as they kept the ball deep in the San Mateo following a free kick, with Delaney Kumer, another sophomore midfielder, sending a pass into the penalty box that Kiyo Aretun, another sophomore, ran onto and deposited in the back of the net for a 4-0 advantage.

Carlmont kept the pressure on throughout the rest of the half, but Quan urged her team to move the ball around and probe the defense — tactics they’ll need to hone for the postseason.

“We did talk about that for the second half. We were starting to get too direct,” Quan said. “I told them I wanted to work the ball before around … before we try to break their back line.”

Nearly the entire second half was played in the San Mateo end as the Bearcats struggled to muster much offensively. They earned corner kicks in the opening minute of each half, but came up empty. They best chance came in 32nd minute when Carlmont was whistled for a hand ball about 30 yards from goal. Victoria Peña stepped up and lifted high, arcing shot on goal, but was denied when Carlmont goalkeeper Sam Bishop pushed the ball off the crossbar to keep the Bearcats scoreless.

Carlmont certainly looks to be on top of its game this season, with the emergence of an offense that was all but missing last season. Some of that has to do with being moved into the Ocean Division.

But the Scots also saw a roster overhaul, with a group of players moving up from a junior varsity squad that went 8-1-1 in winning the JV PAL Bay title last season.

But Quan realizes there is still plenty of work to do.

“Everything is fine tuning for the postseason,” Quan said. “We’re not a perfect team.”