De La Salle’s Jahir Anaya had the ultimate motivation to take into the offseason, pushing himself to get even better. Not just as a soccer player, but as a person.

Moments after the Meteors finished off a 1-0 win over Prairie Ridge in a Class 2A semifinal last November, Anaya was given a red card for taunting the opposing fans. He could not play in the state championship game, which De La Salle lost 3-2 in overtime to Belleville Althoff.

It was a bitter ending to an historic season for Anaya and his teammates who played in their school’s first team state championship game in any sport.

“That really hurt me,” Anaya said. “I’m not going to lie. It really hit me deep. When the final bell rang and I knew we lost, I put all that on me. I kept that burden for months.

“I came in for summer

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