The Lotus School For Excellence boys soccer team is coming off a Class 2A runner-up finish, but third-year head coach Bennett Pang’s focus has been to build a program that “goes beyond any single season or any single player.” His hope is to make a positive impact on both their Aurora community and the younger students in the K-12 school.
Besides his impressive on-field numbers, Fredy Peraza has been a strong asset for Lotus. A single player though he may be, Peraza has embodied Pang’s vision.
“Fredy means quite a lot to the Lotus team and program,” Pang said. “He understands the game well, and players were looking up to him for his ability. One of the challenges we talked about this year was for him to step up and have players look up to him for his leadership in the program as well, and that’s a role that he’s definitely embraced. He was voted one of our captains this year, so he’s stepped up in terms of being one of the flag bearers for our program this season.”
Peraza’s abilities have helped him score 29 goals through Oct. 5, which has him tied with fellow 2A standout Josafat Rodriguez of Manual for the overall state lead. The Lotus junior is, however, alone with his state-best 65 points.
In the span of five days, Peraza netted nearly half of his season goals in two games with six coming against William Smith on Sept. 19 and eight vs. Dolores Huerta Prep on Sept. 24. He also has three three-goal games and two two-goal games.
“My team has supported me throughout the season,” said Peraza, who scored nine goals as a sophomore. “Coming in from last season, the program and everyone, the community that surrounds Lotus, the way that everyone has each other’s back, it encourages me, and it pushes me.”
His production becomes even more impressive due to him being a midfielder, a position that typically isn’t associated with leading the team in goals. Pang believes that Lotus’ offensive system has allowed Peraza plenty of “freedom,” but that’s not the only contributing factor to his numbers.
“He’s capitalizing on the few opportunities he has per game,” Pang said. “Another thing that’s helped his production is his fitness level. He can continuously make runs throughout the whole game and carry the ball with him from the first minute to the 80th minute.”
With the help of assists expert senior Abeneazer Getachew in particular, Peraza has benefited from a versatile group of fellow Meteors.
“We got players that can play a long ball, players who can open up the field and we all complement each other,” Peraza said.
Besides bringing a state championship to Lotus, Peraza’s big-picture goal is to play soccer at the next level while becoming the first member of his family to attend college.
“I come from a family where we play soccer,” Peraza said. “My dad was really involved in soccer, so I grew up and from the first moment I picked up a soccer ball, I was like ‘yeah, this is what I’m destined to do.’ I fell in love with the sport ever since. My family played a huge part in why I play soccer now.”