By Carleen Surrena
Madison Umidon doesn’t think she’s so special.
When the Las Positas College women’s soccer stud was asked why she was so good, she immediately, started looking uncomfortable. She laughed nervously and said, “I wouldn’t say that,” looking down and seeming to rack her brain for how to answer. She contends there isn’t much unique about her.
“I want to be friendly,” she said, pulling clichés from thin air. “I love meeting new people. I hope that I am a good friend to others. … I want to be a good leader on my team and someone my teammates can look to, someone to build them up.”
She may sound as normal as you’d expect from a 20-year-old college student. But when she takes the field, Umidon really stands out.
She has led the Las Positas women’s soccer team to a surprising start. Ten games into the season, the Hawks were 5-3-2 and in the mix to win the Coast Conference North Division title. They ranked No. 4 in scoring in the state among community colleges.
And the woman they call Maddy is the main reason. She scored 10 goals through the first 10 games this season. Last year she scored nine all season.
Umidon also had five assists. She ended the month of September with the fifth most points of any player in the state, according to the California Community Colleges Soccer Coaches Association statistics.
“She’s a strong player and we need her out on the field,” said sophomore midfielder McKenzie Cuellar, Umidon’s best friend. “She is a great asset to our team.”
With Umidon leading the way, the Hawks have come out of nowhere to become a force. Last season, they finished 6-12 overall, including just two conference wins.
A big change this season is the Hawks’ scoring punch. Their offense has really turned up a notch. Last season, they scored just 32 goals the entire season. In a three-game stretch earlier this season, the Hawks scored 28 goals in three games.
Umidon has been the head of the snake. She was voted captain by hear teammates, along with Maddy Souza and Iman Alani.
“The thing about Maddy is she always gives one hundred percent,” Hawks coach Paul Sapsford said. “Whether the team is doing well or not so well, you can count on her to give it her all.”
Umidon, a Dublin native, wanted to wait to attend a four-year school. She opted to save the money, stay close to home and play for a school where she would get more of an opportunity to play. That led her to Las Positas.
She had played varsity girls soccer all four years at Valley Christian High School in Dublin before joining the Hawks. As a freshman, she earned second-team all-league honors. Her next three years, she was a first-team selection.
She was the captain of the team her senior year and received “Female Athlete of the Year” honors for her school.
Her junior and senior years, she also wore the cleats for the Danville Mustangs. Playing for a competitive club team, under coach Chad Harper, helped her elevate her game.
“He really helped me build my confidence,” Umidon said, “and make me the player I am today both technically and mentally.”
Umidon has always been athletically inclined. She also played volleyball and basketball growing up. When she was eight, she played on the boys’ little league baseball team because the city did not have a girls’ softball team.
But soccer has always been “the one” for Umidon.
Madison Umidon, #5, defending against San Francisco Community last Wednesday.
“Maddy was always playing sports,” said her mom, Lori. “She has played soccer since she was 4 years old and still has the same excitement and passion for the game now as she did then.”
Off the field Maddy served as the vice president of her class freshman-junior years and student body president her senior year. Her spare time is usually spent hanging out with friends, hopefully at a beach somewhere. Attending Warriors and A’s games also ranks high on her list of preferences. So does spending time with her younger brother, Spencer.
Umidon’s plan is to continue her soccer career, and studies in kinesiology, at St. Mary’s College of California next year.
But first, she has a mission to complete for Las Positas. Her passion for the game, her talent, and the vast experience she has, is lifting the Hawks to a place no one expected. And she’s surrounded by other talented girls who have the Hawks facing a legitimate shot at making the playoffs.
Sophomore Yesica Morales was fifth in the state with eight assists. Freshman forwards Hailey Mann and Ireli Loyola are showing signs of being future stars for Las Positas. They’ve combined for eight goals and 10 assists already, giving opposing defenses something else to think about besides Umidon.
Loyola ranks seventh in the state in assists. And freshman goalkeeper Ali Nunes has 56 saves, which was tied for sixth-most in the state.
