Doral’s Yitzhak Calatrava is the Miami-Dade 7A-5A Boys Soccer Player of the Year

When Doral Academy’s season was maybe a minute or two away from an unhappy ending in the Region 4-7A championship last month, Yitzhak Calatrava made the play Doral needed, just like he did all season -- although this one, the most important of the Firebirds’ season, ended with maybe the easiest goal he scored all year.

A long, desperate pass down the field pulled Cypress Bay’s goalkeeper out of his net. A mistimed jump by the goalie left Calatrava all alone, with the ball bouncing above his head, and nothing separating him and a season-saving, game-tying goal. Calatrava hopped and headed in the 80th-minute equalizer to force overtime and then he sent Doral back to another final four with a dazzling long-range goal in extra time. The Firebirds returned to the state semifinals for the fourth straight year.

Calatrava was the most important player on one of South Florida’s best teams and now he’s the Miami Herald’s Miami-Dade County Boys’ Soccer Player of the Year for Classes 7A-5A.

“I fell in love with soccer back in 2014 watching the World Cup,” Calatrava said. “The Netherlands beat Spain 5-1. I watched that whole game and that was it. I knew I wanted to play and I started the next year.”

A senior, who moved to Miami from Venezuela four years ago, Calatrava never suited up for Doral before. Instead, he always opted to focus on club teams outside of school. For his final year of high school, Calatrava decided to give high school soccer a try and immediately became one of the most prolific offensive players in the state. The forward delivered 15 goals and 10 assists, and came through in about every important moment for the Firebirds.

The two goals at the end of the 4-7A title game sent Doral to Auburndale yet again and Calatrava even scored the Firebirds only goal in their loss to West Orange Winter Garden in the Class 7A semifinals.

Calatrava wanted his last year in Doral to end with another run in the Florida High School Athletic Association playoffs and he wasn’t just part of one. He was the reason for it.

“(Winning Player of the Year) is great because it’s always nice to be recognized for your hard work, but I would have traded it for winning a state championship,” Calatrava said.