Typically, when All-CIF-SS selections are released, the MVP of each division usually comes from the school that won the CIF championship.
Edison finished this season as the runner-up in Division 1, but senior forward MacKenzie Cerda was so dominant in the postseason, there was no choice but to name her the Division 1 MVP.
Cerda scored five of her team’s six goals in the playoffs and helped the Chargers beat three consecutive league champions on their way to the title game, the program’s first CIF-SS finals appearance since 2002.
Her play in the regular season helped Edison win the Sunset League. That sustained excellence has earned Cerda recognition as the Register’s Player of the Year.
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It’s an individual award, but Cerda couldn’t help but speak about her teammates and coaches when asked to reflect on her season.
“Making it to CIF finals, and just being able to make a bunch of friends, those are friends for a lifetime,” Cerda said. “They’re all a bunch of wonderful people, and I’m glad I was able to play on the field with them.
“My coaches, especially, they’re amazing people. They taught me so much. Not only on the field but in life.”
Cerda, who signed to play soccer at UCLA, was always a leader with her play. But she took on a leadership role this season, too, according to Edison coach Kerry Crooks.
“She did it in a lot of different ways,” Crooks said. “She took some of the sophomores under her wing. She made them (her teammates) her sisters.”
Cerda’s guidance gave her young teammates the confidence to play “out of their heads,” during their run to the CIF finals, Crooks said.
It was in the semifinals against Foothill when Cerda’s true impact was shown. She gave her team a 1-0 lead with an early goal, but late in the second half she collided with the Knights’ goalie. Cerda had to be helped off the field.
Her teammates protected their lead and earned a spot in the CIF-SS championship game.
“They played with a lot of heart. They’re not going to let their leader down,” Crooks said immediately after the game.
At that point, Cerda’s season was over. She had sustained a lacerated kidney in the Foothill game and she was forced to miss the Division 1 final and a first-round game in the Southern California Regionals.
Both of those games ended losses for Edison. But the Chargers wouldn’t have even been in that position without Cerda’s superb season.
Contact the writer: amorales@ocregister.com
