Williams best in the state

Reed Williams received the perfect wake-up call Thursday morning.

His parents woke him up with some great news they found out from Corona del Mar High boys’ soccer coach George Larsen. They told Williams, the Sea Kings’ star senior, he had been named 2009-10 Gatorade California Boys’ Soccer Player of the Year.

The award recognizes outstanding athletic excellence, as well as high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field. As California’s best high school boys’ soccer player, Williams is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys’ Soccer Player of the Year award to be announced later this month.

Williams, bound for UCLA, is the first from CdM to receive the honor.

“I was thrilled,” William said. “I hadn’t heard back from [Gatorade] in a while. I was starting to think I wasn’t going to get it. I was really happy when my parents told me.”

Williams said he was also pleased with the season, calling it, “perfect,” and saying all the accolades that have followed have been, “just icing on the cake.”

He was a dangerous forward who led the Sea Kings to unprecedented heights this past season.

With speed and deft moves, the 6-foot-2, 165-pound Williams always seemed to be a threat to score. Williams, who missed time with a hamstring injury, recorded 32 goals and 12 assists to help the Sea Kings to the CIF Southern Section Division IV title and the CIF Southern California Division II Regional championship. Those were the first postseason titles in the program’s history.

CdM finished 27-1-1 and ranked No. 2 in the nation by ESPN Rise, which collaborates with Gatorade to name the state’s player of the year.

The CIF Division IV Offensive Player of the Year, Williams scored the game’s only goal, as CdM beat Santa Barbara, 1-0, to win the CIF SoCal Division II Regional crown. He finished his varsity career with 69 goals and 27 assists.

Williams has maintained a 3.64 grade-point average. A math tutor at CdM, he has volunteered locally as a youth soccer coach in the Daily Pilot Cup and completed a service mission trip to Mexico, where he helped build houses for the needy.