Lopez Talks About Commitment to Cal
6-1/185 senior Mater Dei kicker Nick Lopez became the latest in a growing line of Mater Dei Monarchs to trade in the red and white of Mater Dei for the blue and gold of Cal, committing to play for the Bears in 2019.
“My goal was always to play D1,” said Lopez. “When I visited Cal for the first time, I knew that’s where I wanted to be. My family is ecstatic about me going to Cal and my friends are super happy for me, especially because it’s Pac-12 football.”
Lopez is following a large group of Mater Dei players to play for Cal in recent years, including graduating seniors Malik McMorris, Chase Forrest, Matt Rockett and Addison Ooms, in addition to frosh receiver Nikko Remigio and redshirt senior running back Justin Norbeck.
“I know Nikko Remigio at Cal,” said Lopez. “There are Monarch teammates all over the Pac-12. It’s an honor to be a Mater Dei Monarch and represent Mater Dei football at the highest level and I’m going to work my hardest everyday to show that.”
Though Lopez has a big leg on the gridiron, it wasn’t too long ago that he thought soccer might be his best path to athletic success at the collegiate level.
“My dad was a pro soccer player, so I knew that I was going to play D1 sports but I thought that soccer was what I was going to play in college,” said Lopez. In 7th grade we started kicking as a Plan B. When I got to Mater Dei, it quickly became my Plan A and I never looked back.”
A kicker for a prolific program like Mater Dei always has to keep his leg warm for plenty of kickoffs but the flip side was that the Monarchs rarely attempted field goals with so many touchdowns scored. The senior kicker went three-for-six from mostly long distance and 77-for-80 on PAT’s. He also regularly booted touchbacks on his many kickoffs.
Turns out Lopez isn’t the only offspring with a big leg in the family, too.
“I have a younger brother who is a junior at Mission Viejo and he is also a kicker,” noted Lopez. “We played against each other in the CIF playoffs and my dad says his dream is for us to meet again in the Pac-12.”
With signing day looming next Wednesday, Lopez, who sports a tremendous 4.5 gpa, is anxious to move on to the next phase of his life.
“To be honest with you, playing at Cal was my dream once I knew that kicking was going to be my skill. I’m just very grateful that it worked out how I wished it,” concluded Lopez.