Cor Jesu freshman Maddie DiMaria was announced Friday as the Gatorade national girls soccer player of the year.
A forward and midfielder, DiMaria is the first St. Louis area player to earn Gatorade's national girls soccer honor, which first was awarded after the 1997-98 to Aly Wagner, who went on to play 131 times for the U.S. women's national team.
No St. Louis area boys soccer player has received Gatorade's national player of the year, and the last St. Louis area athlete to receive Gatorade national player of the year honors in any sport was Chaminade's Jayson Tatum for boys basketball after his senior season (2015-16).
DiMaria scored 30 goals and had 21 assists as Cor Jesu won the Class 3 state championship, the program's first since 2012 and third overall.
She had two goals and one assist in a 3-0 victory against Summit in the title game June 1 at Soccer Park. That was one of eight multi-goal games this season for DiMaria.
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Earlier this month, DiMaria played for the U.S. under-15 women's national team in a pair of friendlies in Europe.
She had one assist in each game, a 4-0 victory against Germany in Nordhorn, Germany; and a 2-0 win over the Netherlands in Schalkhaar, Netherlands. DiMaria came on as a substitute against Germany and started against the Netherlands.
DiMaria comes from a strong soccer background. Her father Jeff, played professionally for the Colorado Rapids and St. Louis Steamers.
Cor Jesu, DiMaria was the Missouri Soccer Coaches Association Class 3 player of the year.
She also played basketball for the Chargers' Class 6 state semifinal team.