2022 NewsTribune Boys Soccer Player of the Year: Mendota’s Rafa Romero

Rafa Romero had been a standout for the Mendota boys soccer team since his freshman year.

But entering his senior season, the Trojans needed even more from their star defender.

Mendota needed leadership after graduating six seniors from its 2021 supersectional team.

And the Trojans needed someone to help cover for losses in the defense as David Garcia was diagnosed with cancer over the summer, and Edgar Arteaga suffered a season-ending injury in the first week of the season.

Romero was up to the challenge.

He provided leadership, he helped the Trojans to 14 shutouts, got into the offensive attack with eight goals and four assists and played a key role in Mendota’s 19 wins, fourth consecutive regional championship and another sectional final appearance.

For all he accomplished this season, Romero is the 2022 NewsTribune Boys Soccer Player of the Year.

He followed in the footsteps of his brother, Paco, who claimed the award in 2016.

“He had a fantastic season for us,” Mendota coach Nick Myers said. “He was a true leader. We went through a couple tough times, but credit to Rafa, he stayed upbeat. He was always positive. He always kept encouraging everybody. He definitely took over a leadership role on the team. He became the leader we needed, especially in the back. He was just a dominant force defensively. He was a big reason we had so many shutouts and were able to make another deep postseason run.”

Romero said he’s always been a leader and communicator. This fall, he took sophomore defender Mauricio Martinez and junior defender Kaleb Kleckner under his wing as they adjusted to a starting role on varsity.

“For a while, we ran four in the back and it was him and I [in the center],” Romero said. “This was his first time playing center back. During practice I tried to help him. I showed him all the things I think about during games. He took that and ran with it. We had Kaleb in back, too. He played last year a little bit but not as big a role as this year. Personally, I feel like I made an impact on them with how vocal I am. In practice they took after what I did.”

Myers said Romero served as a “security blanket” for the younger players.

“I think how calm Rafa is in back made a big difference with Mauricio and Kaleb,” Myers said. “I think it helped them be calm under pressure. They knew they could make a mistake here or there and Rafa would be there to pick up the scraps.”

Myers said Romero even served as a security blanket for him over the past four seasons.

“I went into every game knowing as long as we have Rafa in the back we have a good chance to win because he’s just so dominant,” Myers said. “He’s a physical presence. I think it can intimidate teams a little bit when they see Rafa back there. They know it’s going to be tough to get past him.”

At 6-foot-3, Romero was able to use his height to win the majority of 50-50 balls in the air. With his long stride, he also was able to keep up with speedy forwards.

He’s also able to read the field and get to the right spot to defend the play.

“Physically, I’m super tall so I win like 99% of headers. I’m fairly quick,” Romero said. “I think I read the game super well. Since I was little I watched soccer, so I have a high soccer IQ. I feel like I know what the other team is going to do before they even do it. I’m usually in then right place.”

This season, Romero made more of an impact on offense as well as he pushed up in the attack and played a key role in set pieces. Instead of taking free kicks this season, Myers moved Romero into the box to give him the opportunity to head in goals.

In the regional championship, the Trojans trailed 1-0 with 19 minutes left before Romero headed in a corner kick to tie it, helping spark Mendota to a 3-1 win.

“Even though he’s a center back and doesn’t get a ton of scoring opportunities, normally when he got the opportunity, he made the most of it,” Myers said.

Romero’s eight goals this season were a career high.

“I loved it,” Romero said about scoring. “As a defender you don’t always get much recognition because your stats aren’t really good. That didn’t really bother me at all, but this year it was nice getting a couple points on the board.”

Romero’s soccer career is over as he plans to attend lineman school and enter the workforce. Myers said he will be missed in the Mendota program.

“Every coach talked about him after every game,” Myers said. “I think everybody could see he was just a fantastic leader. He’s smart. He knows the game. He does everything he’s supposed to do.”