In the literal sense, 5-2 Mario Aleman hasn't grown much since coming to the United States from South America five years ago.

But the spark plug of the Spring Lake Park/St. Anthony Village boys' soccer program has mastered the English language, learned to use his size to his advantage and made the very adult decision to finish up high school at St. Anthony rather than play soccer with more distinguished teams.

"He really loved the program and the people around him," Panthers coach Jake Smothers said. "He's not the prima-donna player who gets bored with high school soccer. In the end, how much he loved high school soccer is why he stayed."

Aleman's maturity, tenacity and team leadership have earned him the Star Tribune's Metro Player of the Year.

Smothers first learned of Aleman a year before he came to the Panthers as a freshman. When Aleman arrived, Smothers was blown away.

"All I heard from people was, 'You have to check this kid out,'" Smothers recalled. "And he was so much better than anyone made him out to be."

A speedy play-maker, Aleman's footwork is one of his biggest assets. As a sophomore, he was challenged by coaches to improve his work ethic and movement with the ball.

The result? Aleman racked up 42 assists in the past two years, often while being double- and even triple-teamed.

"A team is created by the whole group, not just one person," Aleman said. "I'd rather get an assist over a goal. I like doing that job. I want to pass it, and they can just tap it in."

Aleman scored plenty, too, with 48 career goals for the Panthers.

His skills attracted interest from the Major League Soccer's New York Red Bulls and teams in Italy and Argentina to join their respective academies after Aleman's junior year.

After mulling it over with family and coaches in Minnesota, Aleman decided to stay.

"It was a great decision to stay," he said. "I learned a lot from my team and I gained a lot of experience as a leader. I was a role model, and that was important to me."

The Panthers' 3-1 loss to Maple Grove in the Class 2A, Section 5 championship game ended Aleman's high school career.

"He just dropped to his knees and started bawling, that's how much high school soccer means to him," Smothers said.

But this could be just the beginning of his journey in the sport. Aleman has yet to decide what's next, but he's leaning toward a move to club ball in Argentina. "They've been kind of waiting for me," he said sheepishly.

Said Smothers, "I don't think he's scratched the surface. Once he gets around the right coaching and the right opportunity, I think we'll see there is a lot more inside of him as a soccer player just waiting to come out."