There is no hiding Giovanni Perez on the pitch, not after the junior season he had.

East Union’s skillful wing forward isn’t scoring at the same rate when he was ranked among the top scorers in the nation, but he has reached a career milestone even with the extra attention opposing teams are giving him.

“It’s a 3v1 or 4v1 every time,” the two-time reigning Valley Oak League MVP said. “It starts with a 1v1, but once you beat one everybody comes back to get at you — the midfielders come back, the wingers.

“You can tell by just looking at the stats from this year to last year. Not a lot of people knew me last year, but this year every team we play is man marking. It makes it tough.”

Last week, on Jan. 11, Perez scored his 99th and 100th career goals with a brace in a 4-0 win over Oakdale. He’s the first East Union boys player to hit the century mark, and his 231 career points are also a program record.

Perez has at least five more games to add onto his account, which includes the pandemic-shortened spring 2021season in which he racked up 12 goals and eight assists for 32 points over 14 games as a freshman.

Perez was aware that he was approaching the 100th goal going into the Oakdale game at Dino Cunial Field.

“I’ve been tracking my goals for the past three or four years,” he said. “It was cool to see that I was close to it, and when I got it, it felt good. Huge milestone, not a whole lot of people reach it.

“It’s hard work and four years on varsity. Had a short year my freshman year, which kind of messed me up, but I still got it. Since my freshman year I’ve just been getting after it every game. Just work, work, work until it’s done.”

His work rate, speed and ball skills make him stand out. Coach Ronnie Green points out Perez’s vision and passing ability, comparing him to one of the top players on his 2019-20 NorCal championship team.

“He’s by far one of the best players I’ve had,” Green said. “I’ve been lucky to have several league MVPs on my team, but he stands out with his goals and he also has a ton of assists — he’s not a selfish player.

“With the ball at his feet, I don’t think I’ve seen a better player in high school besides maybe Noe Martinez. He’s just so creative.” 

Perez set single-season team records last season, scoring 43 goals and 20 assists for 102 points. His goals were 13th most in the nation, sixth most in the state and second in the Sac-Joaquin Section, according to stats submitted to MaxPreps.

With many of his individual objectives met, Perez remains motivated. He continues to play in honor of fallen friend and teammate Ervin Mendiola, who died while training in October 2022. He would also like to reach the heights achieved by the 2019-20 squad.

East Union’s last two postseason runs ended in disappointment: an opening-round upset against Sonora in a shootout, and a 6-0 semifinal thumping administered by eventual SJS Division III champion Golden Valley.

“I try to finish every (shot) I can, but you miss some,” Perez said. “But you gotta to keep going, you can’t let one bad game decide the whole season. Every game is a new game, and I gotta go in like it’s my last because you never know.

“Most of us our hungry, especially the seniors. Everybody wants to leave with a ring. We can go all the way. We have the team; we have the coaches — we just have to keep working.”