The 2023 Herald-News Boys Soccer Player of the Year: Romeoville’s Isaiah Pina

When things went exactly according to plan for Romeoville’s boys soccer team this season, it typically meant a midgame position change for senior Isaiah Pina.

Pina often would start at forward, hoping to score or help one of his teammates score early. Then he’d move to defender to help protect the lead.

“That’s one thing we focused on a lot was trying to get the lead in the beginning of games and then drop back,” Pina said. “It actually helped me more. It gave me more confidence playing all over the field with my teammates. I was able to push them to work harder, too.”

Pina scored 21 goals, dished out seven assists and was a big part of eight shutouts on his way to earning all-state honors. His versatility helped the Spartans have another successful season.

Coming off a Class 3A state runner-up finish in 2022, Romeoville could not duplicate that run but finished 17-6-3, won a regional championship and pushed top-seeded Naperville North before falling in a sectional semifinal.

Pina is the 2023 Herald-News Boys Soccer Player of the Year, following in the footsteps of his former teammate, Joseph Duarte, who earned the honor last season before graduating and going on to play at Benedictine University.

Without Duarte, who scored 41 goals in 2022, Pina – almost exclusively a defender as a junior – knew he had to step up on the offensive end.

“I felt like I had to fill in that role, coming in as a senior,” Pina said. “There was a lot of pressure. We were missing a lot of guys and talent from the previous year, but we had a lot of good players coming back in, too, and it helped a lot. We started the season off good and got some momentum.”

Pina certainly built some early momentum for himself. He scored nine goals in the first week of the season. Any doubts he had about his ability to be a go-to weapon on the offensive end quickly vanished.

“That gave me the confidence that I could score at this level, but I knew I still had to focus on the defensive end a lot, too,” Pina said. “I didn’t want to get too focused on scoring. It was doing whatever I could to help us win.”

For Romeoville coach Nick Cirrincione, having a player as a talented and versatile as Pina presented a good problem to have: One of Cirrincione’s toughest decisions was deciding where to play his star.

“I think he is a natural defender, but 21 goals says differently at this level,” Cirrincione said. “He had many games with big goals and had a breakout year up top.

“He’s so valuable on both ends of the field, he was willing to go wherever we needed him at the time, and we were comfortable moving him around.”

As a group, the Spartans took pride in their flexibility.

“We all feel like we should be able to play anywhere on the field,” said senior Julian Arreguin, another defender/forward. “Isaiah definitely does a great job doing that.”

One of Pina’s top memories from this season was the Spartans’ comeback in the Class 3A Marmion Regional championship game. Romeoville trailed Metea Valley 3-1 with less than 12 minutes left in regulation before rallying for a 4-3 overtime win.

“The atmosphere was electric,” Pina said. “I was thinking it was over. [Josh] Silvar scored, and that gave us hope, gave me hope. Then we had a corner in the final minute, and there was a rebound. I got it on my chest, crossed it in, and it dropped in perfectly for Julian [Arreguin], and he scored. It was a nice feeling. Then we won it in overtime.”

Pina is hoping to continue to play soccer in college but is undecided on a destination.

He is leaving quite a legacy at Romeoville.

“I hope people remember the work I put in for the school and the passion I had for the sport,” he said. “Putting our school everywhere, making people know us and pay attention to our soccer team. It was good to have so many people supporting us.”