Girls’ Soccer Player of the Year: Menlo’s Sophie Jones

“That’s kind of appealing,” Ireland said. “She’s a fairly good player.”

Ireland’s tone clearly implied “fairly good” actually means GOAT — as in greatest of all time.

Despite the jokes bandied around the soccer ranks this year — that for the past three years she wasn’t good enough for Menlo, so they wouldn’t take her — Jones was busy playing on another level entirely, joining the San Jose Earthquakes Academy team during her junior year while working her way up the ladder for the Women’s Junior National teams.

So, her impact on Menlo was fairly good. And by “fairly good,” we’re talking best team in Menlo history, recording an all-time program record 20 wins en route to capturing the Central Coast Section Division I championship.

Her brilliant talent alone was basis enough to earn Jones Daily Journal Girls’ Soccer Player of the Year honors. What put Menlo on the path toward history, though, was her insistence on involving the depth of Knights talent around her.

“Ross’s big thing for me was be more selfish,” Jones said. “But that just goes against how I see the game. I like to see other people involved in the game.”

Ireland is right to want his star midfielder — in fact, she was named West Bay Athletic League Midfielder of the Year — to be more selfish, because her footwork and explosive first step are absolute artistry, which she commands with all the alacrity of a potential future Women’s World Cup player.

“Initially, it’s technical ability on the ball, which is second to none,” Ireland said. “She can do things with the ball that nobody else does. She also has a change of speed … explosiveness.”

And Jones certainly was willing to show it off when she had the chance.

The senior pointed to Menlo’s 5-0 opening-day win as the harbinger of the explosive season-long performance to follow. It wasn’t just the goal differential that was cause for optimism, but the team the Knights blew up in the process — crosstown non-league rival Menlo-Atherton, a CCS powerhouse in recent years that Menlo hadn’t beaten since the 2011-12 season.

“So, we kind of knew it was going to be a special year,” Jones said. “Every game we started to grow in confidence and by the end of the year we kind of knew the team was special.”

Menlo went on to score 78 goals this season. The past two years combined, the Knights totaled 74 goals.

While Jones was one of just three seniors on this year’s roster, she is going to be an impossible individual to replace. But much like the old Billy Beane “Moneyball” approach, the Knights have a decent chance to recreate her in the aggregate.

The junior depth of forward Katie Aufricht and WBAL Goalkeeper of the Year Talia Grossman will headline the returning class for 2019-20. But some of the most exciting talent is found in the pool of eight underclassmen from this year’s squad, including freshman Carolina Espinosa, who was quintessential to balancing the attack down the stretch.

And the future of Menlo soccer got to show its stuff on the CCS championship stage. Win No. 20 for the Knights — a slight 1-0 defeat of Christopher-Gilroy — came without Jones in the lineup. With the U-20 Women’s National Team opening play in La Manga, Spain, Jones had to retire her high school career following the CCS semifinals.

“I couldn’t get out of it,” Jones quipped.

Jones kept the groove going from Menlo right to the world stage. In her debut on the U-20 roster, she played wire to wire in two of the team’s three games.

After two losses to start the tournament — 3-2 losses to each Germany and France — Jones patrolled midfield in a 4-0 victory over Sweden, and even connected for her first U-20 point by scoring an assist on a switch and touch to Makenna Morris, who lowered the boom from the top corner of the 18-yard box for a second-half score.

Local fans looking for something a little closer to home to appreciate about Jones is her work with the Earthquakes Academy team. She was named the United Soccer Coaches Player of the Year last season for the Quakes. Now, there is even a display in the foyer of Avaya Stadium dedicated exclusively to her.

“My signature is like the size of a spider,” Jones said. “So I have to work on that.”

While she’s on her way to Duke University next season on a full athletic scholarship, Jones is likely to get plenty of practice signing autographs as her career progresses. She’s a world star in the making. And one of the GOAT to don the uniform for the Menlo Knights.