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Daniel Diaz-Bonilla had never played with The Heights School despite attending since 10th grade. Playing for Bethesda Soccer Club — a local academy in Gaithersburg, Maryland — Diaz-Bonilla couldn’t play high school soccer because of time constraints.

But heading into his senior year, Diaz-Bonilla wanted a change. Since he was already committed to Princeton, he decided to spend his final season of high school eligibility with The Heights in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) — the DMV area’s premier athletic league.

“It’s one of those things where I went to the school… and I felt like the way that I could contribute to the school’s culture and the school’s history was to play soccer for them and hopefully deliver the first championship in school history,” Diaz-Bonilla said.

In his lone season with The Heights, Diaz-Bonilla spearheaded a historic 17-0-1 record. The Cavaliers captured the WCAC title, becoming the first team other than Gonzaga College High School or DeMatha Catholic to win in 20 years. Diaz-Bonilla’s 27 goals and 16 assists earned him WCAC Conference Player of the Year honors. He was named the 2018-19 Maryland Gatorade Boys Player of the Year.

After three seasons at Princeton and an Ivy League title in 2021, Diaz-Bonilla is a rotational piece at Syracuse, providing it with a spark off the bench as a wing back.

Diaz-Bonilla remembered some of his friends at The Heights jokingly asked if he was actually good at soccer. He had been friends with players on the team for a couple years but never played with them. Occasionally, The Heights’ head soccer coach, Colin Gleason, invited Diaz-Bonilla to practice with the team, which he happily accepted.

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When Diaz-Bonilla started practicing with The Heights as a sophomore, his dribbling ability made him a natural attacker, Gleason said. Gleason recalled Diaz-Bonilla would “smoke guys” 1-on-1.

“I’ve never seen a player at the high school level with the ability he had to run with the ball,” Gleason said. “So being able to sprint at full pace while keeping the ball so tight to his feet… the defense didn’t know what to make of him.”

Diaz-Bonilla wanted one last chance to play with his friends. In the spring of his junior year, he told Gleason he considered leaving Bethesda despite the program playing a crucial role in his development. The academy had helped him get recruited by Princeton. But, when his college situation was locked up, he contacted Gleason.

“Being able to play with your buddies and win a championship there’s really nothing better than that,” Diaz-Bonilla said.

Before entering the WCAC, Gleason said that The Heights competed against local powerhouses like Gonzaga and DeMatha but never beat them. Diaz-Bonilla changed that.

“We started beating teams that we had never beaten ever before,” Gleason said.

Early in the 2018 season, the Cavaliers defeated DeMatha 2-0. The next month, they blew out Gonzaga 5-1. That year, Diaz-Bonilla averaged over two goal contributions per game while playing along the attack.

“He was instrumental. Every game we played and he was just far and away the player that attracted all defensive attention from the opposing coach,” Gleason said. “He was pretty close to scoring at will.”

Once the WCAC playoffs started, Diaz-Bonilla continued to be the focal point. In a rematch with Gonzaga in the WCAC semifinals, the Eagles man-marked Diaz-Bonilla from start to finish. Gleason remembered Diaz-Bonilla “screaming” at his squad to fire them up after a sluggish start.

The game ended in a scoreless draw but The Heights advanced on penalties. Diaz-Bonilla set the tone after scoring on the first kick.

In the final, Diaz-Bonilla finished off a memorable season, recording a goal and an assist in a 3-0 win over Paul VI High School.

“It’s a dream experience to be able to play with your best friends your senior year of high school,” Diaz-Bonilla said. “Not only did we play but we ended up winning…we went undefeated. So it was a special moment and a special season.”

Published on October 4, 2023 at 11:46 pm

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