For the second straight year, the Gatorade National Player of the Year for Boys Soccer is a two-time state honoree.

Daniel Klink, the Maryland State Player of the Year in 2024 and 2025, was announced as the national winner on Friday by Gatorade. Klink, a standout performer at Loyola Blakefield in Towson, Maryland, scored 17 goals and passed for eight assists in the fall. He led Blakefield to a second straight Maryland Independent Athletic Association A Conference tournament championship.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” Klink told TDS after being surprised with the award. “This team has supported me so much, on the field, off the field, it’s an amazing group of players and my coaches as well are tremendous. I couldn't ask for any more from them.” 

This year’s national honoree is a reflection of his team’s success in the fall of 2024. An attacking player for Loyola, Klink helped power his team to back-to-back state championships in 2023 and 2024.

It was a tale of two seasons for the Blakefield squad during Klink’s junior and senior campaigns. They entered 2023 with a new head coach (Mike Marchiano, now the women’s head coach at Maryland), and while they were among the contenders, they were far from consensus favorites. After a sensational season that was capped off by a championship run, Klink was named as the state Player of the Year by Gatorade last June.

That also meant a steeper challenge in 2024. With a target on its back, Loyola Blakefield had to navigate a season with new head coach Geaton Caltabiano while defending its state title.

“I feel like we were playing to prove people wrong in 2023 and then playing to prove people right in 2024,” Klink said. “Both were incredibly fun, having the fans heckle you [as favorites], everyone wants to beat a team that has so many great players and such a great coaching staff. It was a challenge, teams in our league are amazing, I know other players, other coaches they do an amazing job.”

There was a long list of college-bound talent among the seniors on the roster, along with Klink. That included standout forward Sammie Walker (West Virginia), goalkeeper Drew Mattingly (Penn State), midfielder Cal Lackner (Loyola (MD)), defender Ryan Andrews (Loyola (MD)) and Michelangelo Parravano (Salisbury), to name a few.

The satisfaction and pressure of being favorites made victory all the sweeter, as a second straight MIAA championship was secured with a 2-0 win against Archbishop Curley last November. Though Klink pointed out he would remember both titles fondly, there was something special about lifting the trophy in his final game with his senior teammates.

“This past one was so much enjoyment, so many emotions just because it was our last game, everyone wearing the jersey, really playing with a lot of those guys for the last time because we are all going to different schools, different paths,” he said. “Hugging those guys, lifting the trophy again for the last time, I’ll never forget that.”

The Maryland standout is set to return to North Carolina in the fall. Able to graduate early, he spent the spring semester in Chapel Hill, competing in spring games and getting his first taste of college soccer.

“It was a lot of fun,” he said. “More challenging, guys are bigger, stronger faster, just like it was my freshman year in high school. I just have to trust the coaches and trust my ability.”

He is eager to get back and start a new challenge – with his high school success in the past, but always with him.

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