Details Revealed After Star NJ Athlete Killed In Double Fatal

BLOOMFIELD – Honors and tributes for Anatalia Pena are pouring in as more details were revealed Thursday after the star New Jersey athlete was killed in a double-fatal crash.

And all those tributes celebrate her endless triumphs and accomplishments on the playing field. But they also remember the sweet "angel" who never quit at anything.

"There are no words," the Bloomfield Soccer Club, which had chronicled her triumphs all the way back to 2013, wrote about Anatalia, saying she was a "sweet, intelligent, loving person."

There was the time she scored four goals in a soccer game. There was the time she led all sophomores in New Jersey in scoring with 13, and the Bloomfield Soccer Club wanted people to vote for her for statewide player of the week.

"To know her was to love her," the club said. "We ask for your prayers as we mourn the loss of our Angel Anatalia."

The soccer club noted that she died in a car crash on her way back to school, which The Essex News Daily reported was Barry University in Miami Shores, Fla

The Florida Highway Patrol is currently investigating the double fatal traffic crash that occurred on northbound I-95 in the area of NW 95 St. in Miami. The accident occurred at approximately 3 a.m. on Sunday, Lt. Alex Camocho told Patch.

Based on a preliminary investigation, the crash happened when a blue Chevy SUV and a blue BMW sedan were both traveling north on I-95.

The Chevy changed lanes into the path of the BMW, and the front of the BMW collided into the left side of the Chevy, Camocho said. As a result, the Chevy overturned, landed on its roof and became fully engulfed in flames.

The driver and passenger of the Chevy became entrapped in the vehicle as it caught on fire. Both occupants died on scene inside of the vehicle. The driver of the BMW was transported to Jackson Hospital, Camocho said.

The Bloomfield Soccer Club said she was senior co-captain of the Bloomfield High School soccer team in 2018, a Lembo Scholarship recipient and a "wonderful young lady."

"For those of us who knew, coached, played with and called Anatalia friend - this news is most terrible," the club said.

A GoFundMe page also was set to help raise money for the family.

"On behalf of Joy Winnik and Frank Pena, it is with a heavy heart that we must announce the passing of our daughter Anatalia Pena. Anatalia Faith Pena was taken from this loving family suddenly this morning," the page said.

"If you knew her, you know what a sweet, intelligent, loving person Annie was. To know her was to love her. We ask for your prayers as we mourn the loss of our Angel Anatalia."

Pena excelled elsewhere besides the soccer field. The a 2018 Bloomfield High School graduate also triumphed in track and field and basketball.

A 2013 Patch article showed her being recognized by Bloomfield Mayor Raymond J. McCarthy for the 7th grade girls basketball team's 14-2 record, losing only in two close decisions to Verona.

But The Essex News Daily said Pena was a dominant player for the BHS girls soccer team, earning first-team honors on the All-Super Essex Conference-Liberty Division in her senior year during the fall 2017.

Pena was the most prolific scorer in the recent history of the BHS girls soccer program, scoring 42 goals and 17 assists in her career, according to the publication.

“She was a bold and fearless player, winning the admiration of both her peers and her opponents,” Aliaga said in a statement to The Independent Press. “Her speed and strength allowed her to dominate and take over in games. She even tethered with the line of being injured and or hurt way too often."

Nj.com also noted that Anatalia "never let a scoreboard get her down."

The Bloomfield team was playing against Newark Academy two years ago, and losing 4-1 with only four minutes remaining; Aliaga remembers Pena hustling up the field and lifting their spirits, nj.com reported. The game ended in a tie after Pena made three assists.

“That was a metaphor for who she was," Aliaga told the publication. "She had a way of boosting the team. She was so joyful and happy. There was never a day she was angry or upset.”

Here are some of the many tributes to Anatalia: