That clutch factor is usually reserved for players late in their career. But that's not the case for Mendez, the River Valley Democrat-Gazette Boys Soccer Player of the Year. He's just getting started after scoring a team-high 15 goals while leading the Pointers to the semifinals in the Class 5A state tournament in his debut season.
"He's just a freshman," Almond said. "He's just still so young. It's ridiculous. He had a huge state tournament for us. We kind of hiccuped in the initial minutes against Greenbrier being down 2-0 in the first round. I thought, 'Here comes the youth. We are not ready. It's done.' But they really stepped up winning that one 6-2. Said was a big part of that. He had huge goals in that game, took care of us and got us where we needed to be. His impact was huge."
Mendez, who earned all-state and all-state tournament honors, was often at the right place at the right time for Van Buren (14-9, 9-5). He scored one of the biggest goals of the year to give the Pointers an early 1-0 lead in the quarterfinals in a 2-0 victory against Hot Springs Lakeside on its own field.
"It was really fun," Mendez said of the state tournament. "I got a lot of experience from that. It was exciting especially as a freshman. You don't know what it's going to be like. Playing in it is pretty difficult. But next year, we want to take it to another level. The goal in the quarterfinals was a pretty good goal. Angel Lopez crossed it in, and I was able to get a good finish off. We needed that one."
Mendez found success early and often despite it being his first year playing at the varsity level. He had a hat trick in a 4-1 win against Mountain Home on the road just four games into his conference career. He scored three times in two games this year against rival Alma as well. Mendez especially finished the season strong scoring in bunches during the team's late-season six-game winning streak that started in the regular season and stretched into the playoffs.
Despite his standout season, Mendez was still a little shocked when he heard he was named the River Valley Democrat-Gazette Boys Soccer Player of the Year.
"It kind of surprised me," Mendez said with a smile. "But I'm very happy to get something like this early in my career. I started playing soccer when I was 7. I played mostly in a Sunday league with my brothers. I just knew I was going to play soccer. I had a PE teacher that always told me I should play, too."
While still young in his time at Van Buren, Mendez noted it meant a lot to him to wear the Pointer jersey and is looking to the future with a young team hungry for more success down the road.
"It meant a lot," Mendez said of playing for Van Buren this season. "I'm happy to represent the Pointers and to be able to score goals for them. I'm really excited for the future. We are ... Click here to read full article
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