Northwestern's Martinez receives S.C. Gatorade boys player of year award

By Barry Byers - Barry Byers

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Northwestern High School's Enzo Martinez was named the RISE Magazine/Gatorade South Carolina Boys' Soccer Player of the Year for the second straight season.

Martinez, a 5-foot-6 junior forward, is the two-time Class AAAA Boys Soccer Player of the Year. He had scored 49 goals this season going into Tuesday's Upper State championship against Irmo, and holds the state record for most career goals with 142.

He also has 21 assists, 68 for his career, and has scored 352 career points. Although there is no state record in that category, Northwestern assistant principal and former Trojans soccer coach Ozzie Ahl believes it's close to, if not the most, a player has scored.

"Of the players I've seen in my career, Enzo has the best work ethic combined with raw talent I've seen," said Ahl, who keeps Northwestern's statistics. "He's one of those players that if you want to beat him, you have to mark him out of the game. He's so strong and talented he's hard to stop.

"You could tell Enzo was a good player, considering his size, when he was a freshman. He's not a big player, but he overcomes that with speed and talent. He plays a lot bigger than he is."

Martinez, a native of Uruguay, spoke little English when he and his family moved to the United States seven years ago. But he's a quick learner and has maintained a 3.92 grade-point average through his three years in high school.

When not playing high school or club soccer, Martinez participates in several community-service initiatives. He's a youth soccer referee and coach, and participates in area soccer clinics sponsored by various youth programs in Rock Hill.

Martinez is undecided as to where he'll play college soccer. Ahl said Clemson is heavily recruiting Martinez and that he's sure other schools are in the mix.