Over the past five seasons, the Sutton girls soccer team has managed to go an impressive 68-19-3 during the regular season and then added another 25 wins en route to five straight State Championships (2- Division 5 and 3- Division 4). The first came in 2021, when the Suzies were the four seed in the Division 5 Tournament, and to reach the Finals they had to beat the number one seed. The next two seasons found Sutton as the No. 2 seed, with the last two seasons as the No. 1 seed entering the tournament. As the No. 2 seed during the 2022 and 2023 seasons, Sutton had to take down the number one seed in the Finals to capture the State Titles.

While the Suzies are coming into the 2026 season riding a high five-year wave in order to grab their sixth straight championship, they are going to have to do some work. Sutton not only graduated five seniors from last year’s 14-4 regular-season record, but also lost two underclassmen who have decided to pursue other endeavors. Needless to say, this upcoming campaign is going to be a lot tougher than it has been in the past.

As the team gets ready to take to the pitch, Coach Alex Ferguson will be fielding 6 freshmen, 3 sophomores, 1 junior, and 7 seniors, making up his 17-man roster. 

“Coming into the season, we have realized that we are going to have to work a lot harder this year than we have in the past,” the coach said. “The girls have always worked hard during the off-season, with most of them playing cub or in summer leagues. They’ll be in soccer mode when the season opens up, but it is definitely going to be a different year and that’s what I trying to  figure out before out home opener against Medway.”

Senior captains Courtney Clemens and Lea Lamoreaux will take the reins in bringing the Suzies back into the tournament; both athletes will be taking their games to the collegiate level next fall. Clemens will be attending Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, and Lamoreaux will play for Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The two midfielders will be tasked not only with providing leadership and keeping the team’s chemistry intact throughout the season, but also with patrolling the midfield. Ferguson calls the duo two of the best to have played the game at this level.

 Jersey Jeffries will also return to lead the Suzies’ defense. As the leader in the back field, Jeffries is a quick defender as well as a talker who will be in charge of keeping things organized on the field. Offensively, Ferguson will have junior Delainey Walsh and senior Lucy Scarborough playing the striker position, and Quinn Jacobsen, Ashley Briggs, Hannah Jenkins, and Ella Pitts will hold down the outside midfield.

McKenna Perry will take over the team’s last line of defense as goalie. She will have big shoes to fill to keep Sutton rolling throughout the season. The three-year varsity athlete will be a first-year starting keeper for the Suzies. Last fall, Perry, who is also a club soccer player, was able to get into four games as the starter, where she recorded three shutouts and only allowed one goal in the other contest. At this time, she is the only keeper on the team’s varsity roster. 

Freshman Caroline Heldenbergh should be poised to see a lot of action this fall in the middle of the field. The freshman is a very athletic individual who plays at a high level on the club soccer scene, sees the field well, and can defend on both sides of the ball. Another freshman to grace the Suzies roster is striker Peyton Walsh, a strong one with a decent shot, according to her coach. 

Scoring will come back to the elder Walsh, who was third on the team last fall, netting 10 goals and 10 assists. Scarborough, who is returning to Sutton for her senior season, will also be asked to find the back of the net. According to Ferguson, the senior has improved her skills considerably and has a very accurate shot. 

While the team would love nothing more than capturing its sixth straight State Title, the coach knows that while nothing is impossible, it’s going to be an uphill battle. 

“We basically have to go out and play competitively while building our team chemistry,” Ferguson said. “As the girls get acclimated and closer to one another, the chemistry and comfort levels should rise, and we should be able to play some good soccer.”

Having lost some quality athletes, the newer girls moving up to the varsity level are going to have to pick up their game. Coming up from the JV team, the girls will not only find that the game is much faster than they are used to, but they will also be playing against some of the top-tier teams and their players. 

If Sutton can get the influx of newer varsity players up to speed quickly, they will once again have the opportunity to field a top-10 team. However, playing in the tough CMAC will be another challenge on its own, and the Suzies will need to develop and all come together as a team.

Photos courtesy of the Suzies’ Facebook Page