North Crowley’s Alan Mendoza is 2016 Super Team Player of the Year
North Crowley midfielder Alan Mendoza scored in all but five games this season.
Those five games were the Panthers’ only losses. In the team’s 19 victories, Mendoza found the net 28 times, assisting on 19 other goals.
The senior captain, who led North Crowley to its first-ever district championship and an appearance in the regional quarterfinals, is the Star-Telegram 2016 Boys Super Team Player of the Year.
“A lot of goal scorers get a lot of artificial goals. He never really did,” North Crowley coach Browning Stupp said. “One thing about Alan is that he scored important goals. I think it showed in the playoffs, when he was getting triple teamed.”
Mendoza isn’t a pure forward, so many of his goals came from outside — including set pieces. Almost half his strikes were from restarts. It was a specialty he put extra effort into this season, typically working on it three times a week after practice.
The team gave me a lot of confidence and they trusted me. This was almost a perfect year for me, honestly, winning the first district championship at the school and being the first district MVP from the school.
North Crowley midfielder Alan Mendoza
“Coach Stupp gave me full range,” Mendoza said. “It was up to me.”
Range is another asset for Mendoza, evidenced by his 48-yard goal against Arlington Martin.
“He’s not a big kid, he’s not exceptionally fast, but he’s got both feet and can play very fast and can shoot from anywhere,” Stupp said. “He can create in the middle of the field and creates a lot of goals on his own.”
The four-year starter made an impact as a freshman and was a first-team all-district player last season when he scored a dozen goals.
“I sat him down as a freshman and told him if he works hard he has the potential to be the best player we’ve ever had at North Crowley, and we’ve had some good players in the past,” Stupp said.
This year, Mendoza was MVP of District 4-6A.
“The team gave me a lot of confidence and they trusted me,” he said. “This was almost a perfect year for me, honestly, winning the first district championship at the school and being the first district MVP from the school.”
Boys Super Team
GK Allan Richards, Sr., North Crowley: Posted five shutouts on the way to 19 wins. Surrendered more than one goal in a match only twice. Goalkeeper MVP in District 4-6A.
D Brendan Woodcock, Sr., Trophy Club Byron Nelson: Defensive MVP of District 5-6A for district champion Bobcats. Defense posted 12 shutouts with just three losses.
D Brian Aguilar, Sr., Fort Worth North Side: It’s not often a defender is named MVP of the district, but Aguilar accomplished just that. The left back was MVP of District 7-5A.
D Eddy Rodriguez, Sr. Arlington Sam Houston: Anchor of the Texans’ backline was co-defensive MVP of District 4-6A.
M Nat Kajiwara, Jr., Southlake Carroll: First-team all-district midfielder was catalyst for Dragons’ offense; second on team with 17 goals.
M Josue Munoz, Jr., Mansfield Summit: The MVP of District 14-5A, Munoz was among the area leaders in goals with 20 this season.
M Alan Mendoza, Sr. North Crowley: Star-Telegram Boys Super Team Player of the Year had 28 goals and 19 assists as MVP of District 4-6A.
M Chad Sahinkaya, Sr., Grapevine: Last season’s Star-Telegram Super Team Player of the Year, Sahinkaya was near the top of the area in goal scoring with 27. Offensive MVP of District 6-5A.
F Bryce Gentry, Jr., Granbury: Scored 26 times en route to District 8-5A MVP honors for the Pirates, who lost only one game in regulation.
F Trevor Stoval, Jr., Alvarado: MVP of District 8-4 scored 23 goals for the Indians this season, adding an nine assists.
F Dejan Savic, Sr., Aledo: Offensive MVP in District 8-5A was among area leaders in goal scoring with 17.
This story was originally published May 2, 2016 at 5:56 PM with the headline "North Crowley’s Alan Mendoza is 2016 Super Team Player of the Year."