On Feb. 10, Aragon’s varsity girl’s soccer team (5-9-2 overall, 2-7-1 Peninsula Athletic League) fell short 2-1 in an intense matchup against Hillsdale (3-12-4 overall, 1-8-1 PAL) to end the season.
Even though it was Senior Night, a sizable percentage of Aragon’s team is made up of freshmen.
“We are a very young team,” said head coach Michael Flynn. “We have six freshmen on the team. We started four today and Hillsdale has 15 seniors on their team.”
Most of the game was defensive and the ball was mainly in Hillsdale’s half. Although Aragon was pressuring Hillsdale, Hillsdale scored first with around 13 minutes left in the first half.
With two minutes left in the half, freshman Sierra Troy scored to tie up the game.
“Everything was happening in slow motion,” Troy said. “It was really cool having all the support and all the hugs.”
The second half was also fast-paced and heavily defensive for the Dons. Finally, with 16 minutes left in the final half of the game, Hillsdale scored one more goal that secured the game for them.
The Dons had a decent amount of opportunities to score, but could not convert the shots into goals.
“We showed a lot of character, we played till the whistle, we had a lot of opportunities [but] we just couldn’t finish,” Flynn said.
“We showed a lot of character, we played till the whistle, we had a lot of opportunities [but] we just couldn’t finish”
Because the team has younger players, hopes are high for the future.
“We are just missing a couple pieces of the puzzle,” Flynn said. “I am keeping my fingers crossed that we’ll find those pieces next year. I think we might be two or three years out from being a team that is competing for the championship.”
The team’s freshmen have positively impacted the Dons’ style of play.
“Since day one, we definitely had a lot of talent, especially new talent,” said senior midfielder and co-captain Kaelyn Luebke. “I am definitely excited for the future of this team … in coming years. We took on quite a lot of freshmen this year. Quinn, our center back, [is] a brilliant soccer player, very clear-headed, calm on the ball, really good on her feet and really smart defensively.”
The players and coaches are optimistic about years to come, hoping they can turn the team into a championship contender.
