Sublime free kick gives Dons’ 1-0 win over Menlo

Instead, the spotlight was on Aragon’s Emi Lo, a sophomore who appears to be next in line for a college scholarship.

She was clearly the best player on the field and when she had the ball at her feet, the Dons were dangerous. But Aragon was without a pair of key players, as well — striker Stella Pisaro and center back Violet Calvo — and it affected the Dons’ play, also.

So naturally it was Lo who ended up as the star as her goal off a free kick in the second half proved to be the difference in the Dons’ 1-0 win over the Knights.

Without Pisaro to work off, Lo was forced to drop deeper to receive passes and she went from goal scorer to distributor. When Aragon is at full strength, “What happens is it frees up Emi to roam,” said Aragon head coach Michael Flynn.

Lo had a couple of dangerous through balls into the Menlo penalty box in the opening 10 minutes, but she disappeared at times, as well, and when she wasn’t on the ball, Aragon (3-1) had a tough time generating much of an attack.

Normally that might makes things a little more difficult on the defense and considering the Dons were without their defensive leader in Calvo and Flynn admitted he was a little worried.

Especially considering he took freshman Kayla Sims, who has played every minute of the season at left back this season, and moved her into the middle of the defense.

The move worked well as Aragon shut down the Menlo attack, which was hampered by the absence of Chou.

Menlo (2-3) had the ball in the attacking third of the field plenty of times, but the Aragon back line consistently made Menlo play the ball east and west, instead of north and south, and the Knights struggled to even get many shots off.

“We told [Sims], she’s the one,” Flynn said. “She had a phenomenal game. She brings a ton of energy. She’s our energy queen.

“To come in at this level and feel that comfortable confident … shows a high soccer IQ.”

Menlo, however, had the best scoring chances in the first half, but Aragon starting goalkeeper Luana Denniston won a 50-50 ball from Julia Axelrod on a through ball into the Dons’ penalty box in the 17th minute.

The Knights had a better chance in the 30th when Denniston could not corral a loose ball in the box and with her out of position, the Knights put a shot on goal that was blocked off the line by a Dons defender to keep the game scoreless at halftime.

In the second half, the Dons simply kept working — especially four-year starter Sierra Troy. Working mostly by herself up top, she was constantly running at the Menlo defense, with or without the ball.

“What we’re trying to focus on this year is playing high pressure,” Flynn said. “We’ve been emphasizing to just press hard.”

Flynn credited Troy’s hard work for keeping that pressure on the Menlo defense.

“Defenses don’t like to be pressured on the ball,” Flynn said. “Sierra just works and works and works.”

And it was that pressure that ultimately led to the Dons’ goal and while Troy doesn’t get an official assist on the goal, it was her hard work that resulted in the free kick that got Aragon on the scoreboard.

On a long through ball, Troy could not quite catch up to it, but the Menlo goalkeeper, who came to the edge of the penalty box to play the ball, was actually outside the box when she handled it, giving the Dons a free kick from 19 yards away.

Up stepped Lo, who curled a shot around the Menlo defensive wall and into the upper left corner of the net for a world-class strike in 55th minute — a goal that would stand up over the final 25 minutes of play.

“That was a beautiful shot,” Flynn said.

Editor's note: this article has been updated to show Luana Denniston was in goal during a scramble in front of the net.