This year, girls varsity soccer recruited a new coach, Nick Dye, who introduced a new style of play. Dye replaced U.S. History teacher William Colglazier, who chose to not coach the team this year in order to spend more time with his son. While adjusting to their new style of play, the girls varsity soccer team played four games between Nov. 30 and Dec. 8. Although these games ended in three losses and one tie, Dye says, “I think even though we lost the game, we gained some belief out of it.”
Junior and varsity midfielder Allison Simms says, “[Coach Dye] knows soccer really well. He’s coached professionally and played professionally. He knows how to give constructive criticism, so he can fix things that need to be fixed.”
One of Dye’s changes is the introduction of a new game formation. In the new formation, there are four defensive players, three midfielders, and three forwards. Dye says, “We’re going to ask the team to pass the ball from the defense, keep possession of the ball in the midfield, and go for the jugular when they attack.”
This year, the new coach also conducted tryouts differently than in past years. Dye says, “What we were really looking for [during tryouts] is technical ability, tactical awareness, physicality and their social demeanor—how they interact with others.” After tryouts, two players were cut from the team.
Additionally, nine senior players from last year’s team, which tied for first place at CCS (Central Coast Section), graduated in May. Senior and team captain Jenny Winterbottom says, “I think that there’s a different kind of chemistry [this year] because there’s a lot of new people, so we don’t all know each other as well as we did in the past.”
Some players also transitioned to the team from frosh-soph to Varsity. Junior Claire Tatlow says, “[On varsity there is] less emphasis on basic skills and more on higher level playing and strategy.”
Regardless of age or experience, the Varsity soccer players are cognizant of their promising history. In both the 2011-2012 and the 2009-2010 seasons the Aragon soccer team tied for first place as the Central Coast Section (CCS) champions. Junior Jordan Lewis says, “Even to go to CCS again would be a big goal for our team.” Dye adds, “That’s really the only goal of the season: to win something. We definitely have a team capable of doing that.” In their route towards achieving this goal, the Aragon soccer team will face rival schools, including Carlmont and Burlingame.
The first few games of the season proved difficult for the Varsity team. After a 1-1 tie against Menlo School on Nov. 30, Aragon played a challenging game against Castilleja on Dec. 2 that ultimately resulted in a 1-2 defeat.
The first half ended 1-0, with the Dons in the lead. Midfielder and junior Ally Simms, who scored the goal, says, “I was kind of in the right place in the right time. We practiced that: I was scoring those [type of goals] ten times in practice. It was nice to do it [in a game].”
Shortly after the start of the second half, a Castilleja player kicked the ball into the corner of the goal, evening the score. About 15 minutes before the end of the game, Castilleja scored when a player headed the ball into the goal, ending the game with a 1-2 defeat for the Dons.
Simms comments, “I think we need to come together as a team more. There were times when we were frantic. We just kind of need to calm it down and find positions so we can play as a team.”
Nov. 30’s game was followed by two games on Dec. 7 and Dec. 8. On Dec. 7, the Dons faced Los Altos, losing 2-0, and on Dec. 8 they played against Los Gatos. While both games were losses, the Dec. 8 game was highlighted by a victorious second half.
At half time on the Dec. 8 game, the Dons were down 5-0. Left fullback and sophomore Yasmine Sahib explains, “There [were] a lot of crosses coming in from the left side. It made it really difficult for me to know where the ball would go.”
The second half remained scoreless until the last five minutes of the game. Then midfielder Jenny Winterbottom made a long shot, scoring the Dons’ first goal of the game. Winterbottom also took a penalty shot and kicked the ball far into the left corner, making the final score 5-2.
After the game, Dye told his players, “Take the loss as the first half. The second half you won 2-0.”
