Uriel Heredia powering Granger soccer with scoring abilities

WEST VALLEY CITY – Few soccer players can match the first impression Uriel Heredia made in his first high school soccer game.

What happened that day is still as vivid in the mind of the Granger (West Valley City) senior as if it happened only a few days ago. Heredia laced up his shoes, stepped onto the field against Beaver and immediately showcased an explosive scoring ability. He delivered a hat trick in his freshman debut, leading the Lancers to an 8-0 victory over the Beavers.

Heredia played like a natural-born scorer, even if he was wracked with first-game jitters for 80 minutes at the time.

"It was a nervous day for me because it was my first year of high school," Heredia said. "It was something I didn't expect, but it's something that happened. I'm very proud of that day and proud of that moment."

Now, as a senior, Heredia has grown accustomed to carving up opposing defenses. He has scored 10 goals in just six games to help Granger race off to a 5-0-1 start. Heredia ranks in the top five in goals scored statewide and he is the co-leader among Class 5A teams with Luis Vargas from Copper Hills (West Jordan).

After spending much of his time at center midfield for the past three seasons, Heredia moved up to center forward in the team's 3-4-3 formation this spring. Putting him closer to the next has turned him into an even more dangerous playmaker.

Granger coach Hyrum Okeson said that Heredia has an excellent first touch. He can trap the ball and create shots that are hard to read and even harder to defend.

"He can do anything he wants with the soccer ball," Okeson said.

It took Heredia plenty of hard work to position himself so that others could see his abilities. Growing up in California, he was trained to play as a defender — a sweeper. He soon grew tired of being stuck in a defensive position.

Heredia wanted to play up top and felt like he could build the skills to be a forward. His youth coaches did not share the same opinion.

"I actually never saw myself playing as a forward," Heredia said. "I thought I was always going to be a defender because people told me I didn't have those forward abilities. But I just trained a lot and now I'm playing as a center forward."

Moving to Utah before high school gave Heredia an opportunity to reinvent himself as a soccer player. He began teaching himself the skills he needed to learn to play as a forward.

Okeson knew Heredia had the tools to be a special player, even before he made a lasting impression in his first varsity game. Heredia earned a starting job as a freshman and now, in his fourth season, he has become the type of player who offers a perfect blueprint for younger players on how to approach the game.

"He does those things you ask every leader to do — show up, play hard, score goals when we need him to," Okeson said. "He's willing to step into that role."

Heredia is having fun and scoring goals — the things he enjoys most about soccer. The best part of it all? He's no longer nervous about making a good impression.

Anyone who watches Heredia knows he can do amazing things on the soccer field and Heredia feels just as confident in his abilities these days.

"I just play calm and believe in what I can do," Heredia said.

He's earned plenty of believers at Granger — and elsewhere as well.

John Coon covers Utah high school sports for MaxPreps. You can reach him at john_coon@hotmail.com and follow him on Twitter at @johncoonsports