Game Night is back after closing for some remodeling. As the winter sports season is now well underway, the County Times has been striving to bring you our traditional content while adding some new twists–a la including soccer in Tuesday’s statistical package. Now we’re working to bring you our local rankings and stats online. Stay tuned. Meanwhile, we’re hoping to make Game Night an interactive forum. Give us and everyone else your thoughts on the County’s prep sports scene by posting a comment.

BELMONT–When the dust settles at the end of what is shaping up to be a memorable girls soccer season in the Peninsula Athletic League’s Bay Division, there’s a good chance a quintet of contenders will look back on Thursday afternoon as a turning point in their seasons. For better or for worse.

And this goes beyond Burlingame taking control of the division nearing the season’s midway point by downing eight-time defending champion Carlmont, 2-1.

To start with, let’s recap the Bay standings before Thursday’s action:

1. Burlingame (16 pts.)
2. Carlmont (14)
3. Aragon (11)
t-4. Menlo School and Woodside (10)
t-6. Menlo-Atherton, Sequoia and Terra Nova (4)
9. San Mateo (2).

To no real surprise, five teams have distinguished themselves as the class of the division. Also not surprisingly, the biggest opportunities for those teams to gain ground on each other comes in their head-to-head contests.

The Bay schedule offers a total of four days–two each in the front and back end of the double round-robin format–when four of those contenders meet each other. Those days represent the best chance for a substantial leap (or drop) in the standings.

The first was a week ago, when Burlingame and Aragon faced off, while Woodside played Carlmont. With all but Woodside sporting undefeated Bay records at that point, any result short of a tie would have signified a ‘moving day’ for the teams. But both matches ended as scoreless draws. Nothing gained, and nothing lost.

Thursday was the second of those four impact days in the Bay season. And it was definitely a ‘moving day.’

Carlmont, the No. 1 team in the County Times’ top-10 rankings all season, could have moved a point ahead of second-ranked Burlingame with a victory, re-asserting itself as the team to beat.

No. 6 Menlo School, which hosted fourth-ranked Woodside, could have thrust itself into the thick of the race for a top-three finish that will result in a Central Coast Section playoff bid.

No. 3 Aragon, had a golden opportunity to make a push northward in the standings as it played eighth-ranked Menlo Atherton while the other heavyweights duked it out amongst themselves.

And none of those teams capitalized.

Instead, it was Burlingame (11-0-1, 6-0-1 PAL Bay) that laid the groundwork for a changing of the guard by streaking to a five-point lead over Carlmont. It was Woodside that prevailed by scoring the clutch goals when Menlo couldn’t to move into third place–and within a point of second-place Carlmont–with a 2-0 road win. And it was M-A (4-5-3, 1-4-2) that recorded the first true head-turning result of the season by tying visiting Aragon, 1-1.

“The highs and the lows of soccer. It just kills ya,” Burlingame coach Phillip De Rosa said with a smile after the signature win of his tenure.

A look at the standings heading into the holiday hiatus:

1. Burlingame (19 pts.)
2. Carlmont (14)
3. Woodside (13)
4. Aragon (12)
5. Menlo School (10)
t-6. Menlo-Atherton and Terra Nova (5)
8. Sequoia (4)
9. San Mateo (3)

Aragon (3-1-4, 3-0-3) and Menlo School (6-4-1, 3-2-1) postponed their first contest until Jan. 12, leaving them one result shy of the others (along with Terra Nova, which has its bye as the first half of the Bay season concludes on Jan. 8). And after Thursday, both the Dons and the Knights need three points that day to atone for a disheartening result.

“I think we’re on the cusp of being in the hunt,” said Menlo coach Donoson Fitzgerald, whose team has also lost to Carlmont and tied San Mateo. “We just don’t find the way to win the close games.”

Added Aragon coach Michael Flynn, whose team is still undefeated in the Bay: “(I’m) definitely disappointed. We hit a bump in the road, and now it drops us down to third or fourth place. Now we really have to battle hard. Woodside’s right there now.”

A trendy preseason pick among coaches to make a run at the Bay crown, Woodside (10-2-1, 4-2-1) recovered from back-to-back losses to Burlingame and Aragon with its tie at Carlmont and, following a 2-0 win over San Mateo, Thursday’s critical win over Menlo.

“It was very, very close. One play could’ve turned the tide either way,” Wildcats coach Jose Navarette said.

Like his counterparts around the division, Navarette already has an eye on what his team can do differently in the second round, particularly to reverse its outcomes against Burlingame and Aragon.

“That’s going to be very, very tight,” said the Woodside coach, whose team has excelled since sophomore dynamo Chelsea Braun (four goals in four games) has returned from an ODP commitment. “We don’t go in there biting our hands. It’s all there. It’s all in front of us.”

Even in the aftermath of just the fourth Bay loss in his nine seasons on the Carlmont sideline, Jim Kelly found a significant positive.

“I’m proud of the fact that this league is so tough that nothing is going to come easy for anybody,” said the Scots coach, who likes how the PAL Bay stacks up against the West Catholic Athletic League. “It makes for some exciting games.”

Unfortunately for Carlmont, Thursday was an exciting day that didn’t go its way. Failing to generate any sustained offense or even a shot amidst Burlingame’s second-half barrage, the Scots (6-1-2, 4-1-2) find themselves in the unfamiliar position of being the hunter.

“I don’t think we’re going to lose another game the rest of the way,” Kelly said. “We can’t lose again. It’s not going to be easy for us at all, and it’s not going to be easy for (Burlingame). It’s going to be a challenge to finish in the top three in this league. For anyone.”

But undefeated Burlingame sits in the catbird seat, having built a slight cushion with Thursday’s victory.

“I’m hoping, I’m really hoping that this is a shot in the arm. … If (my players) stay focused, they can play with anyone in the league. They’ve already proved that,” said De Rosa, whose team beat Carlmont for the first time in his 10 years. “We just have to take care of our business.”