ELK GROVE, CA (MPG) -The Franklin Wildcats boys’ and girls’ soccer teams made school history by winning the Delta League in the same season for the first time.

 The accomplishment is the result of a stellar regular season performance from both teams. The girls finished up the regular season with a 9-2-1 record (11-6-2 overall) and the No. 11 seed in CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Playoffs, while the boys finished with a regular season record of 17-2-1 and a league record of 11-1 which earned them the No. 1 seed in playoffs.

 “That’s really cool to be a part of that,” girls head coach Aaron Sulamo said. “Our boy’s program has been really grinding over the last few years to get some things straight. We’re really excited as a school and as a complete soccer family.”

The girls’ team at Franklin has had several postseason berths, while for the boys team, their head coach Jacob Schanning and assistant coach Carlos Chavez describe the past few seasons as a grind.

“It’s a blessing,” Chavez said, who’s been a coach at Franklin for over 14 years. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. We’ve had a lot of talented teams, but this team was the first team to achieve it (win the Delta League).”

 

Given the girls’ postseason experience which includes a Sac-Joaquin Section Championship in 2023, Sulamo said they expected to be in this position at the beginning of the season.

“We feel like we have a good opportunity to hopefully make a run into the playoffs so we’re feeling good right now and we’re really just trying to focus on training and stacking up quality days of training and then hopefully it leads to a quality match,” Sulamo said.

As for the boys, Schanning said his team has worked hard throughout the season and has had to overcome adversity to reach the Delta League championship.

“Recently, we had a little bit of a stumble” Schanning said. “But I think it’s better to get that stumble out of the way during the regular season than be able to grow from that as we head into the playoffs considering it’s a ‘one game at a time’ and ‘survive and advance’ and leave everything on the field.”

The girls’ team's success comes from their patience while maintaining most of the possession which minimizes their opponent's opportunities.

“I think Mara Cochon does a really good job,” Sulamo said. “Maren Matuska does a really good job playing our six roles. Then, Alexys Petrilla and Addison Seese are generally our two double nines then from front to back and back to front we have a lot of quality players.”

Cochon, who’s also a team captain, leads the Wildcats in goals with nine while also leading the team in assists with nine.

“Personally, I think one of my main responsibilities needs to be producing results for my team and I'm continuing to work through this in the next days leading up to playoffs,” Cochon said. “I also think continuing to lead the team with a positive and encouraging mentality throughout the playoffs will be important for our performance.”

As for Schanning’s team, he said they have really bought into what he and the coaching staff have been teaching them, Chavez said.

“We had a lot of players out here and we’ve been preaching to them ‘next man up mentality’ so whoever’s on the bench needs to be ready to go and we’ve used our bench and those players have responded,” Chavez said.

The boys are led by junior Landon Roberson, senior Miles Jones and junior Marcos Zarate in goals with 12, 10 and 10, respectively. Zarate and Roberson also lead their team in assists with 10 and 9, respectively.

Zarate, who’s also a team captain, attributes the team’s success so far to the connection they all have.

“My team is special. We are connected on and off the field like a family,” Zarate said. “We play well together. Our team does a great job combining with each other to create offensive opportunities and our chemistry makes each game fun to play,”

Zarate also said how the coaching staff has done an amazing job with managing the team and the player's emotions and maintaining a positive culture.

Another leader of this team is captain Mason Reyes, a senior, who has mixed feelings of excitement and focus ahead of their playoff matchup.

“The playoffs are always a high-stakes environment, and every moment counts,” Reyes said. There's that adrenaline knowing all the hard work throughout this season comes down to these games. It's time to give everything I've got and leave it on the field.”

Last season, the boys were eliminated in the first round of playoffs. Reyes said he carries over some valuable lessons from that elimination.

“One lesson I carried into this season from last season was to just give it all you have,” Reyes said. It comes down to the final 17 teams and who really wants to win. Last year having first-round exits sucked but I think having a team that knows what they want to achieve means that we have a chance to do something special.”

Meanwhile, for the girls, team captain and goalkeeper Julia Kraemer, a senior, said she is feeling excited for playoffs to start.

“I cannot wait to see my team take our skills to the next level and hopefully see our hard work show through our gameplay,” Kraemer said.

The girls were one win away last season from reaching the section championships to look for back-to-back championships but also learned some valuable lessons that can be used this postseason.

“We need to stay mentally focused, quickly recover from mistakes, and maintain confidence without second-guessing our decisions,” senior Emily Shannon, team captain, said. “It's important to leave the field without any regrets, knowing we gave our best effort.”

The success this team has historically achieved is also thanks to the coaching staff, which Kraemer said played a huge role in getting us to this point because they’re the team’s biggest supporters.

“Our whole coaching staff is willing to do anything they can to hype us up and give us the platforms we need to be mentally and physically ready for any game,” Kraemer said. “They always make us feel like we are prepared and have someone to rely on for questions or support when we need it.”

The first test for Sulamo’s squad is on the road against the No. 6 seed St. Mary’s High School from Stockton on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

“Stylistically, I feel like we match up pretty well and we’re going to be extremely mindful and respectful, and we expect a really tough greedy opponent,” Sulamo said.

For Schanning’s squad, their first test in playoffs is at home against the No. 16 seed Mountain House High School on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

“We have the group to do it,” Schanning said. “This group has never won a playoff game so they have to start there. We just have to go out and continue to work these next couple days until we see Mountain House, who’s a strong opponent.”