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By Jay Spivey

For Clemmons Courier

It’s been a long ride for senior Abiel Lopez-Dominguez of the West Forsyth boys soccer team.  

He’s gone from being a chubby 4-year-old playing soccer just for the fun of it to being one of the integral players in tip-top shape on the top-seeded team for Class 4-A West in the NCHSAA playoffs.  

“(I started playing in a) community league my dad put me in,” he said. “I started playing because I was, you know, young. And then he offered to buy me a bag of chips if I played.” 

Lopez-Dominguez played in a Hispanic League at Philo Middle School. He then played club soccer at Triad Elite, and now he’s at Charlotte Independence Soccer Club. His progression in soccer began to take shape, so to speak.  

“I feel like it was very gradual,” he said. “Little by little, I was getting better. I had my ups and downs, you know, injuries. And COVID set me back. And then, I always trained hard in the offseason.” 

So what about that bag of chips Lopez-Dominguez’s father used to entice him to play soccer? 

“I was a little chubby kid, you know,” he said. “I wasn’t in the best shape.” 

Playing soccer is all in the family for him. His father, Luis, mother, Maribel, and sisters, Julissa, 22, and Clarissa, 15 

“My dad coaches a woman’s team. My mom played, both of my sisters played,” Lopez-Dominguez said. “You know, it was a point where we’d have to go to like five games in one weekend, including mine and my sisters.” 

Despite playing on a youth team, Lopez-Dominguez couldn’t envision himself playing on a high school team, let alone a top-notch high school team. 

“I remember in middle school, I came to watch a game (at West Forsyth),” he said. “My older sister wanted to come watch. She was in high school at the time. And I remember watching the level, and I was, ‘I wish I was up there one day.’ 

“I forgot who they were playing, but I remember West lost that game. Eighth-grade year, I went into high school, I wasn’t in the best shape.” 

He looked at himself in the mirror and prepared for the chance of playing for the Titans.  

“I like worked hard over the summer (before his freshman season),” Lopez-Dominguez said. “I lost 20 pounds in one summer. I was out of shape for high school.” 

According to Lopez-Dominguez, he was 5-foot-8, 184 pounds in eighth-grade. And now he’s 5-10, 170.  

“I remember like people telling me I was like good for my team, but I wasn’t in the shape,” he said. “And I knew if I got into shape, I’d have a chance to do something good.” 

That kid has ended up playing all four years on the varsity team for the Titans, the first three of which were with Coach Jeffrey Williams, who is still the girls’ coach at West Forsyth. 

“(Williams) told me that he liked having young players on the team so that he could develop them and have them become better players,” Lopez-Dominguez said. “And just like being on the team helped somebody grow as a player and a person.” 

His freshman season, the Titans finished 20-4 overall, including 13-1 in the Central Piedmont 4-A. He finished with two goals that season, according to MaxPreps.com. 

“It was weird,” Lopez-Dominguez said. “Coming to the team where I was benched most of the time, the player I played under turned out to be an all-state player (Daniel Bustos), like 16 goals, 20 assists. And I remember sitting sometimes on the sideline for like a whole game, but also when I went in, I tried my hardest to like become a better player.” 

That freshman season allowed him to become introspective. 

“I feel like it was like a year of individual for me because I knew I had to become better, and I had big shoes to fill the next year,” Lopez-Dominguez said. “So, also as a team, we were a really good team. We ended up winning conference, but we came up short in playoffs like every other year.” 

As a sophomore, Lopez-Dominguez helped the Titans to a record of 10-10-4 overall, including 9-5 in the conference. He made a big step as a player. According to MaxPreps.com, he played in all 24 games and finished with 15 goals and 10 assists.  

“It was a big jump,” he said. “I went from (barely) getting any minutes to automatically starting, like something big for me.” 

Last season as a junior, the Titans finished 20-1-2, including 14-0 in the conference. According to MaxPreps.com, Lopez-Dominguez played in 23 games and finished with 14 goals and 13 assists.  

“I feel like I did good,” he said. “You know, I led the team as juniors, who were leading the team in assists and goals. And I feel like it was something big for us, and that also carried on to this year where we’ve had another year of experience.” 

However, the team lost to Charlotte Independence 3-1 in the second round of the NCHSAA Class 4-A tournament.  

“It’s been like a little struggle for not our program, but like our mentality going into the playoffs,” Lopez-Dominguez said. “Sometimes we’re seeded high and go on and thinking we’re the best team, and then we end getting like punched in the face.” 

In addition, Williams resigned as the boys’ coach shortly after last season. 

“He called us to a meeting, and I was thinking it was something else,” Lopez-Dominguez said. “And then he tells us he’s stepping down, and everybody was like in shock.” 

Enter John Blake, who was named the head boys coach at West Forsyth earlier this year after being the head coach at Ledford. 

“I think he was a cool guy,” Lopez-Dominguez said. “Seeing him at the meeting, he seemed like the type of guy who knew what he was going to do.” 

Blake had a great first meeting with Lopez-Dominguez. 

“Coach Williams introduced me really early on,” Blake said. “He was – I’ve seen him as player before, and honestly, since I’ve been coaching him, he’s one of the best kids all-around as a person that I’ve ever been around.” 

Blake coached against Lopez-Dominguez, who is a striker, last year when West Forsyth played at Ledford. 

“He’s super-cerebral,” Blake said. “He’s a holistic person. He’s a better person than player. And great academically. He’s a family man; he’s good with his family and super-respectful to his peers and to his coaches and teammates and teachers. He’s liked by everybody. He’s just a great, all-around person.” 

Both last season as an opposing coach and this season as his coach, Blake has seen the strides that Lopez-Dominguez has made with his fitness. 

“We talked about it a lot early on,” Blake said. “You know, I think fitness for him was a focus. I think he struggled early on as a freshman. Really has responded well these last two years. Just a great athlete, and he’s going to leave West Forsyth as one of the best players to ever play here.” 

West Forsyth (21-1-2) has had a spectacular season so far. After pummeling South Caldwell 9-0 Saturday night in Clemmons in the first round of the NCHSAA Class 4-A tournament, West Forsyth, the No. 1 seed in the West, is 21-1-2 and finished 12-1-1 in the conference.  

“I feel I would have some of the most goals on the team,” Lopez-Dominguez said. “And at the same time, I’ve been playing like the ball out, getting more assists. I feel like I’m in a good place. I can always be in a better place.”  

In the win against South Caldwell, Lopez-Dominguez finished with two goals and two assists, pushing him to a total of 23 goals and 13 assists this season, according to MaxPreps.com. 

“I was super-excited about his leadership,” Blake said. “He’s one of our captains. I knew how he was as a player, but I heard so many good things about him as a leader. He’s definitely lived up to that.” 

West Forsyth was scheduled to have played No. 17 Charlotte Catholic (17-4), which defeated No. 16 East Forsyth 3-0 Saturday night in the first round of the tournament.  

“For (Lopez-Dominguez) and a few other guys, you know, that’s been kind of thorn in their side (losing early in the playoffs),” Blake said. “They really think they’ve let themselves down in the second round. And, you know, hopefully we can overcome that.” 

If West Forsyth can defeat Charlotte Catholic, it would play at home on Thursday in the third round against the winner of No. 24 Cornelius Hough at No. 8 Asheville. 

And if West Forsyth can continue to play in the playoffs, the quarterfinals are scheduled for Saturday, the semifinals are scheduled for next Tuesday, and the state championship is scheduled for either Nov. 22 or Nov. 23. West Forsyth, if it keeps winning, would play at home, through the regional final. The state championship is scheduled for the Mecklenburg Sportsplex in Matthews. 

“I think it was (difficult), especially the older ones,” Lopez-Dominguez said of losing in the playoffs. “Like, we’d continue a cycle of being big in the season and then towards the end just coming up short.” 

As for college, Lopez-Dominguez, who has a 4.3 GPA, wants to play in college. He also wants to major in engineering or sports medicine. 

“Soccer’s given me a lot of friendships,” he said. “Like, I have friends who I call brothers. And it’s also given me the ability to carry on and go to college to become the first generation of my family to play for college and attend one.”