By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

Whatever his coach needed, that’s what Callaway’s Hugo Lopez was willing to do.

During his junior season, Lopez was Callaway’s goal keeper, and he did a stellar job for a team that eventually finished second in the region and hosted a playoff game.

This season, Lopez went down with an injury, and Josh Cooprider stepped in and did an admirable job as the goal keeper.

When Lopez returned, he continued to contribute to the team, just in a different capacity.

Lopez played in the field and helped Callaway go 13-6-2, share the Region 5-AA championship and win a state-playoff game for the first time in the history of the program.

Now, Lopez is getting an opportunity to compete on the next level after he signed a letter of intent to join the

men’s soccer program at Point University.

“I know a couple of people that graduated from here, and they’re over there now,” Lopez said. “I hang out with them, so I’ve got a lot of friends. That’s why it was easy for me. As soon as they offered me, I was like, why not.”

Lopez began playing the sport as a freshman, and he admits that he “didn’t know much about it.”

He learned, and eventually became the starting goal keeper.

When the job became Cooprider’s, Lopez supported him and was happy to take on a new role.

“I’ll do whatever I need to do to win,” Lopez said. “That’s what I told coach (Mike Petite). I supported Coop, because that’s one of the best keeps I’ve seen in my life. He filled in and played like it was nobody’s business. I was like, let him have it, and I’d do whatever I had to do to win.”

Lopez was part of a 10-person senior class, and those players were able to go out by putting together the best season in the program’s history.

“I love those guys,” Lopez said. “They’re everything. It was so much work put in during the offseason. I’ve never seen a team come together like that.”

Lopez is grateful that he’ll be able to continue playing a sport that means so much to him.

“I love soccer so much,” he said. “It’s my favorite thing to do, no matter what.”

Ian Bryan, who scored 30 goals and was named the Class AA boys’ player of the year according to DiVarsity, said Lopez did a lot to lift the team’s spirits throughout the season.

“Hugo, unfortunately he suffered some injuries, but as far as a morale booster for the team, it was insane,” Bryan said. “The days he wasn’t there, you could feel it. When he was there, he boosted everybody’s mood.”