Perth Amboy's Danya Reynoso voted Home News Tribune Athlete of the Week

To the left. To the right. Up and down.

There are times when Danya Reynoso just seems to be everywhere around the net as goalie for the Perth Amboy High School girls soccer team.

“She’ll make saves, you’re like, ‘How did she get that?,’” Perth Amboy coach Matt Wechter said. “’I didn’t think she was even tall enough to touch that one.’ So she’ll get up for those high ones. She’ll come off her line, close down players and dive at their feet and get the ball that way. She’s pretty good with her reflexes.”

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Last fall, in amazingly her third season playing soccer, Reynoso was among the state’s save leaders with 270. In 2017, she’s off to another hot start with 117 saves in five games for the Panthers.

The junior is the first Home News Tribune Athlete of the Week after getting selected in an online poll open to the public. It featured nine boy and girl athletes in a range of sports.

Reynoso’s honor is well-deserved. In three games before the poll closed Wednesday, she made 70 saves—16 saves on Sept. 12 against North Brunswick; 26 saves against Edison on Sept. 14 and 28 saves against Woodbridge on Saturday.

Perth Amboy (0-5) doesn’t have a recreation or club feeder program like many of its opponents in the tough Greater Middlesex Conference White Division. Most of the roster begins playing competitively in middle school. Like Reynoso, who started in the eighth grade after getting inspired by watching the 2014 World Cup that summer.

For some reason, she tried goalie and liked it. Reynoso played jayvee as a freshman and earned a varsity spot last season as a sophomore. She earned her stripes on the job.

“For me, my motto is like every day is a new day to learn something,” she said. “No matter how many years I am on varsity, I’m still learning the game.”

Reynoso quickly found that her love of soccer is mirrored by that of her teammates.

“I have passion for it,” she said. “But then when I see other people putting their hearts out to score a goal or trying everything that they could to get into it—for me, it’s kind of like, ‘Wow.””

While wins are hard to come by in their division, the Panthers measure success by the little things. Are the players improving? Are they able to execute things they worked on in practice like winning 50-50 balls and getting shots on goal? Wechter only allows the players to make constructive comments on the field.

Last year they scored against Edison, which is believed to be the first time in school history. Reynoso, along with the two other captains—senior Isabella Sosa and junior Dennise Gamino—help set the upbeat tone.

“If my team is doing good in the game and they’re doing the things that we’ve learned in practice and everything like that,” Reynoso said, “it’s like why would I be discouraged if you’re doing everything that you can?”

She certainly does her part, often going to summer practices an hour early for a goalie session. Reynoso, a member of the National Honor Society, has been able to pick up the nuances of her position.

“She’s got natural ability, but she uses her intelligence to kind of absorb more of the game at a faster rate than a lot of other kids around her,” Wechter said. “She’s able to see things different ways just because she’s really smart.”

Wechter will send her clips that he finds on the Internet of goalies in action.

“Or I would be like, ‘The U.S. women are playing tonight, watch Hope Solo’s feet,’” he said. “’Like watch how she moves. Why is that a better idea?’ And she was just able to be like, ‘Oh, well she’s got the angle of her body facing the field more so she’s got more control of her range.’ All sorts of little things like that she was just able to kind of pick up and pinpoint. And then just try to put them into practice.”

Wechter said her decision-making has improved from last fall. He also noted that this season the Panthers are hanging with teams longer, meaning that Reynoso is getting tested deeper into games against a full attack. In other words, she’s getting tons of action.

“A lot of people are like, ‘Oh, it’s not a bad position because you’re not running the whole game,’” said Reynoso, who also enjoys drawing and sketching and is a member of the school’s art club. “I’m like, ‘Well, stand in my spot for a game and you’ll see how crazy it is.’ There’s just so much footwork that has to be done. So much hand positioning techniques that you have to know. And for me, it’s like you can’t be afraid to fall. That’s like the whole point of the position.”

Of course, family members might watch with one eye open as she dives here or there.

“All the time,” Reynoso said. “My mom is supportive of everything that I do, but sometimes when she sees me on the ground for a few extra minutes instead of me getting up like usual, she kind of just starts to worry.”

Recently, Reynoso dinged a knee and gingerly returned to the net.

“I’m kind of like, ‘Oh, no,’” she said. “But, it’s always a passion.”

And if she does get a bruise during a game?

“I just go home, put some ice on it and then call it a day,” Reynoso said. “And then the next day, I’m back at it.”