Diggers’ reign continues, but Eagles fly high in 4A girls soccer title game

MERIDIAN — Marsh Valley played back-to-back state champ Sugar-Salem better than any other team had all season. And when the final whistle blew, the Eagles stormed the field with arms raised.

They deserved to celebrate. A loss at the hands of the Digger dynasty meant Marsh Valley was bringing home a second-place trophy — “history,” as head coach Melissa Olsen called it.

Olsen said, “Hell yeah,” her team was proud, and they earned that right.

“Second place is nothing to shake your head at,” she said. “We are second in state — we proved that today. I think we scared Sugar a little bit today. We gave them a hell of a game. I’m proud of that.”

The Digger players, at least co-captain Andee Petterson, were feeling a touch of fear.

Sugar-Salem finished the year with a perfect 18-0 record, the winners of 32 straight, dating back to last year. And not only were they never beaten, the Diggers were never truly tested — until Saturday. In their 17 games leading up to Saturday’s championship showdown, the Diggers had outscored their opponents by a combined score of 146 (8.59 per game) to seven (0.41 per game). They had never scored fewer than four, and allowed three of those seven goals to reigning 5A champ Pocatello — in a 7-3 victory.

So when the Diggers were ahead just 1-0 more than three-quarters into the afternoon, things got a little stressful, Petterson told EastIdahoSports.com.

“I was getting nervous, honestly — 1-0 is a scary lead,” she said. “We just knew that we had to get a few more goals to seal the championship, and we did that. We did what it takes.”

Petterson, who stars on the basketball court as well as the soccer field, took care of that insurance herself, with a pair of goals, in the 68th and 73rd minutes. Senior Alice Johansen added one more for good measure in the 78th minute, on a high volley that got just over the head of Marsh keeper Zayli Merzlock but just under the crossbar.

As the final whistle blew, Petterson said she immediately recalled the distance runs, and hours of sprints — “all the hard work” — and knew it was all worth it.

The 4-0 victory gave Sugar-Salem a final differential of plus-143 — 150 to seven — and the program’s third consecutive state championship.

The nerves Petterson was feeling were also felt on the sideline.

“We have not found ourselves in that situation in the 68th minute of any game this entire season,” said Digger head coach Scott Terry. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. … They played a great game. Marsh Valley was very well-coached, that game was very well-played.”

Terry continued, saying that he has been with Sugar-Salem for several years and does not recall the Eagles every playing in the title game. This year’s success, “speaks to the growth of their program,” he said — growth that will be exciting to watch.

According to Olsen, it had been 19 years since Marsh Valley last played in a girls’ soccer championship game — last doing so in 2006.

“Overall, whatever the outcome was today, these girls were fabulous soccer players, fabulous people, fabulous teammates, and it showed,” she said. “We’re get some hardware, we’re excited to take home that second-place trophy. The girls all have talked about how they are secretly going to sign the bottom of it.”

The Eagles conclude their season with an 18-5-1 record — three of those losses coming against Sugar-Salem. The 18 wins is a program season record.

While the Eagles were celebrating their accomplishment, the Diggers were just as enthused to get another banner for their crowded gym wall.

Seeing the team they just beat right alongside them, rather than frustrated or sad, was a source of pride for the Digger players and coaches.

Terry called it the ultimate sign of respect, saying the reaction he has seen from teams is one of “if we’re going to lose, at least we lost to the team that is winning championships.”

Petterson was also honored by the Eagles elation.

“It feels like, everyone wants to beat Sugar,” she said. “It doesn’t happen often, we’re the best team in the state.”

And there doesn’t seem to be any sign of slowing down going forward. the Digger roster consists of as many sophomores (7) and juniors (1) combined as there are seniors (8), with the lone junior being Petterson, who was a First-Team All-State performer last year and a shoo-in to repeat that honor this year.

She said that the rallying cry for her team all year has been to “put a drop in the bucket every day and eventually the bucket will be full,” and will encourage her teammates to keep that mindset throughout the offseason — even while she leads the Diggers’ journey for a repeat basketball championship.

“We can’t get complacent,” she said. “We can see the vision, we’ve been there before, and we know what it takes to get here.”

Terry said that he will take some time to bask in the joy of another title run.

“I’ve got to enjoy this for a couple weeks, because of how much work and anxiety goes into it,” he said. “If I didn’t take the opportunity to enjoy it, I don’t think I’d be able to come back the next season.”

But in a couple weeks, maybe a month, his focus will shift to a four-peat and how the Diggers can accomplish that next mission.