Woodside picks up big win

Two of those contenders, second-place Woodside and third-place Aragon met in San Mateo in what was essentially an elimination match.

Ties no longer cut it. It’s winning time and when the final whistle blew, it was Woodside left standing following a 1-0 victory on a cold, rainy, blustery, stormy February evening.

“[The win] was huge,” said Woodside head coach Alex Herrera. “As you know, we have four ties. Getting those extra points (for a win) helped us.

“That was not an easy win.”

With the Wildcats’ win, coupled with first-place Menlo-Atherton beating Burlingame, Woodside (4-0-4 PAL Bay, 16 points; 8-3-5 overall) is just one point behind the Bears (5-1-2, 17 points) with two games remaining on the Bay Division schedule.

The Wildcats and Bears meet at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in Woodside with the division title on the line.

The Wildcats are in line to play for the Bay championship thank in large part to senior striker Mariam Yusuf, who might be the most intimidating player in the PAL. Blessed with size, speed and strength, she had Aragon (3-2-3, 12 points; 8-3-3) holding its collective breath every time she was on the ball.

Yusuf made a couple of dangerous runs in the first half, but came up empty. But in the second half, she picked up the pace. Four minutes after the halftime break, Yusuf ran onto a through ball and with a defender on her shoulder broke in on goal.

But with the pressure from the Aragon defender and Dons’ goalkeeper Luana Denniston rushing off her line to cut down the angle, Yusuf pulled her shot wide.

She didn’t miss on her next opportunity. Moments after a cross from Aragon’s Emi Lo could not connect with a teammate, the Wildcats quickly transitioned to offense and sent a long ball up top.

Yusuf did the rest. Much like her previous chance, Yusuf had a defender on her shoulder, running stride for stride. But Yusuf was simply too strong, holding off the defender as she slid into a shot from 20 yards out that was perfectly placed over the goalkeeper’s head and into the right side of the goal for a 1-0 lead in the 55th minute.

“We got beat by a really good striker. [Yusuf] is so strong, so fast. She has such an unbelievable shot. She crushes it,” said Aragon head coach Michael Flynn. “I pulled [my defender] aisde and said, ‘Look, you did what you could.’

“I told her, ‘In that situation, you have to take the tackle. Take the yellow card.’ That’s the only way you’re going to stop her.”

When Yusuf got back to her feet, she had a look of relief on her face.

“There was a little sense of relief. You could see it in her face. As a senior and a captain, it meant a lot to her to get that goal,” Herrera said. “She’s one of those players who is so determined. She hadn’t had a goal in a few games. … But I told her she’ll get the goal when it matters.”

There was still plenty of time remaining, however, and the Dons did a good job of staying in the game and putting the pressure on the Woodside defense. In the 67th minute, Aragon’s sophomore midfielder Lo and senior striker Sierra Troy worked a nice combination give-and-go that sprung Troy into space and she unleashed a shot that look bound for the upper net.

But Woodside goalkeeper Giuliana Perez pushed the shot over the crossbar and the Dons could not connect on the ensuing free kick.

In the 74th minute, Lo made a run from midfield before threading a pass through to Stela Pisaro, but her shot was wide. In the 77th minute, the Dons earned a free kick along the left sideline, 30 yards from goal. Lo put a shot on frame that was again parried away by Woodside’s Perez.

Over the final 13 minutes, Aragon had three free kicks in attacking positions and three corners, but came up empty.

“We had some opportunities to equalize, but their goalkeeper came up huge,” Flynn said. “[Woodside] weathered the storm there at the end very well.”

Not only is Woodside still in the hunt for a Bay Division title, the Wildcats also have the inside track for one of two automatic Central Coast Section playoff spots from the Bay Division.

Aragon still have a shot at finishing in the top two, but the Dons will need to win out and then hope to get some help.

Flynn said the Bay Division third-place team almost always gets an at-large bid to playoffs, so there is still plenty of incentive for the Dons to finish the season strong.

“I’m confident we can get the points we need to get a top-3 spot,” Flynn said. “But we’re focused on one game at a time.”