Sutter senior midfielder/center back Ashanti Madrigal (9) looks to cross the ball back into the middle of the field in the Lady Huskies’ loss to Summerville in the first round of the CIF SJS D-V playoffs on Saturday, February 10.

SUTTER, CA (MPG) - The 2023-24 Sutter Union girls soccer program made significant strides as a family from the beginning of the year till their season ended on Saturday, February 10, as they lost in the first round of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section  Division V playoffs to Summerville.

Coming into the season, Sutter Head Coach Tim Danna had a goal of changing the culture of the program and expressed to the Dispatch it needed to be done. In the few short months of being at the helm of the program, you clearly see the family dynamic all around.

Prior to the playoff game last Saturday, the girls all got together and surprised their coaches at home the night before the game to show their appreciation for what they all did throughout the year and made it a year to remember senior midfielders Ashanti Madrigal and Bri Lopez told the Dispatch.

“They’ve done so much for us and changed the program for the better, so we just wanted to show how much we appreciated them,” Madrigal said. 

The home visits paid were with confetti, streamers, laughs, plastic balls and cheese sticks. The coaches had a sign on the ground at their doorstep that stated “Say Cheese, we’re going to PLAYOFFS.”

“There is no greater feeling you can get as a coach,” Danna said. 

Lopez told the Dispatch it was the least they could do as a team and the senior class due to the fact that they made their senior night special outright, sending them out on a good note with all of the team memories they made this season, which included the team dinners, parties and field memories.

Sutter senior midfielder Bri Lopez (23) kicks a corner kick in the extra time of the Lady Huskies’ defeat on Saturday, February 10, in the opening round of the CIF SJS D-V playoffs to Summerville.

Sutter and Summerville were deadlocked at a 0-0 tie at the end of regulation, and both teams had opportunities to score, but nothing was able to squeak through the phenomenal play of both squads.

Madrigal told the Dispatch that they left it all on the field and it wasn’t their day. She added they were successful with clearing the ball and pushing it up the field to the front line.

Lopez said to the Dispatch that they relied on one another well on the field.

“There were times where we could have gotten frustrated and argued with one another; we kept our composure and made sure we gave it our all until that last whistle,” Lopez said. 

That last whistle came after two 10-minute periods of extra time were played and the game was still scoreless, so the deciding factor of the game came down to penalty kicks.

Summerville won the best-of-five round (4-2) and moved onto the second round of the playoffs.

Postgame, Danna expressed to the Dispatch that he wasn’t mad or sad at the result of the game, but it was that the group was no longer going to be spending more time on the field with one another.

“Our cheer from the beginning of the season was family; they bought into it and it’s been established,” Danna said. 

Although Madrigal and Lopez’s time with the lady Huskies ended Saturday, the legacy/mark they left on the program didn’t. 

Madrigal said she left the aggressiveness factor and giving-it-everything-you-have attitude within the program while Lopez said giving it everything you have and make it as far as you can.

Danna told the Dispatch the senior class of 2024’s legacy left an impact that the family culture, and being a part of the girls soccer program is something the students would want to do now.

“They wanted to be part of this program because it is a family; new friendships were created that weren’t there before and outside of winning games. We established new traditions that people want to be a part of.”