The Madison Del Prado effect

It was quite a boon when [player_tooltip player_id="19845" first="Madison" last="Del Prado"] transferred to Heritage High (Calif.). [caption id="attachment_39206" align="alignright" width="240"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-39206" src="https://prepsoccer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2022/02/IMG_1971-240x300.jpg" alt="" width="240" height="300" /> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="19845" first="Madison" last="Del Prado"].</strong> <em>Photo: Melissa Stewart</em>[/caption]Not only did it give the Patriots an instant impact player, but in the same fell swoop, their arch-rival lost said player. Del Prado transferred to Heritage from Liberty, which is not only Heritage’s rival but the team that has had the Bay Valley Athletic League on lockdown for early 15 years. Since the league took its current form in 2009, Liberty has not won the league only two times, once in 2012 by Freedom and when Heritage last won it in 2013 (they were co-champs in 2018), and in that time Liberty has won two North Coast Section Division I titles. That was until the [player_tooltip player_id="19845" first="Madison" last="Del Prado"] effect. The UC Santa Barbara bound forward helped Heritage win the BVAL, having a direct and enormous impact as the Pats beat Liberty 2-0 on the season’s final day to win the league, with Del Prado scoring both goals. "Playing against Liberty is like playing in all the other rivalry games, but it’s a little more awkward," Del Prado said. "It’s fun to play against my old teammates and to be on the other side, but I love playing in the rivalry games because I thrive being under pressure. At the end of the day, it’s just another soccer game where I’m having fun and doing what I love." And part of what she loves is playing with her close friends, which is something that she finally gets to do in her senior year.  [player_tooltip player_id="29283" first="Jayden" last="Sanders"] and Kaya Scott are seniors with Heritage and the three have always wanted to play high school soccer together. When Del Prado’s family moved into the Heritage school district, making the transfer was the easy decision. "It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made," Del Prado said. "Because playing with my best friends and enjoying school together has been the best of times." Del Prado led the team with 11 goals, and this was despite missing nearly half the season after suffering an injury in the early days of training. For Heritage coach Kellan Christensen, it was pretty exciting when he heard the "Mad Dog" as she is called, was coming to play for him. "She’s a great hold up forward, she can keep the ball at her feet and when she gets it she can get a shot off really quickly," Christensen said. "When she came we played a more attacking formation because I knew we had lots of goals in us. When she’s on the pitch she brings confidence to our attack." After she arrived on campus, Christensen could see she was more than just a great player, as she is also a very good person. "The thing I care about most is her character," Christensen said. "She’s kind, nice, she’s ambitious, and has great character. You can see that in the way that she plays. She’s loves to play and compete and she’s always pushing herself."