Girls soccer defeated in semifinals

First year head coach Kaylyn Toyama’s inaugural trip to the postseason took Aragon’s girls soccer team all the way to the Division IV Coastal California Section semifinals, where they fell 1-0 to the Menlo Knights.
The Dons finished the regular season 6-5-7 overall, going 4-4-4 in their league and earning fifth place in the Peninsula Athletic League’s Bay Division.

“I thought we did well scoring more and finishing goals towards the end of the season because that was a problem we had at the beginning,” said freshman and midfielder Reina Chen.

On Feb. 21, the top-seeded Dons hosted the eight-seeded Pacific Collegiate School Pumas (11-4-2 overall, 8-2-2 league) in a defensive quarterfinal battle that stayed scoreless through overtime. Impressive goalkeeping performances from both teams prevented either side from pulling ahead late.

“Our goalkeepers did absolutely phenomenal and they really kept us in the game with some awesome saves,” said junior and right wing Keira Michon. “And our defense really came together … making sure that they covered everybody, but also making runs up the field and making sure to get back [on defense].
With neither team leading after overtime, the game went to a penalty kick shootout where each team had five kicks to take the lead over their opponents, which played to the Dons’ favor.

“We knew that they didn’t have a goalkeeper,” Toyama said. “So our biggest strength was that if we could get lots of shots off, we had a solid defense. Hopefully if we went to [penalty kicks], we could win.”
The Pumas missed their first two penalty kicks, setting the Dons up with an opportunity to advance to the next round.

“Going into that moment, I practiced it a bunch of times. And so I had a plan,” said junior and left winger Tessa Matthews, who took the first penalty shot. “I was going to go bottom left corner, and so I just stuck to the plan, and kept calm.”

Matthews buried the shot exactly where she intended to for the first score of the game. Each of the next three Aragon players followed suit, nailing their attempts as the Dons cruised to a 4-1 victory.
Following the win against the Pumas, the Dons rolled into a semifinal matchup against the fifth-seeded Menlo Knights (8-3-7 overall, 5-1-4 league) on Feb. 25, where the Dons’ defense started off strong again.
However, with nine minute to go in the first half, the Knights sank a shot in the bottom corner of the Dons’ goal for a 1-0 lead.

“This game was unfortunate,” Toyama said. “[Goalie Lorelei Rustay] didn’t see the ball because it was a corner kick. It deflected off somebody and then went into the goal, so it was really no fault to anybody.”
The Dons’ defense backed up their goalkeepers by continuing their shutdown performance for the rest of the match.

“I think we did a good job of defending our backline,” Matthews said. “They were running after every ball and were super aggressive … We did a good job of just not giving up.”

Unfortunately, the Aragon offense’s opportunity for a comeback ran out.

Although the season ended sooner than the Dons may have liked, Toyama still considered her first year to be a success. Her coaching prowess proved valuable to the players’ and team’s performance in her opening season.

“She did a really good job of checking out how the other teams played and then helping us adjust and really work as a team to figure out how we all play and then adjust that on the field,” Michon said.
With a fantastic debut season in the books, Toyama will look to build upon the team’s 2025-2026 success.
“It’s a really good program. I really like all the girls in the program,” Toyama said. “Everybody buys into what we’re working on and commits to showing up for each other, so I’m really just excited for the girls and to see the next levels we can push [to] next year.”

The new look team will begin their new season next winter.