Receiving special honors at the Trinity Lutheran girls soccer awards program Thursday night were, from left, Abby Lorenz, Dianna Munoz, Hannah Helt and Kaydence Miller.
Arv Koontz | The Tribune
Kaydence Miller received the most valuable player award and took home a senior award when the Trinity Lutheran girls soccer team was honored during an awards program Thursday night at Rails Craft Brew & Eatery in Seymour.
Cougars head coach Thom Hayes said Miller improved a lot throughout her career. He said her statistics would have been a lot different if she had played offense instead of defense.
“She’s probably the best sweeper that Trinity has ever had,” Hayes said. “She was always around the ball, and she was always trying to learn.”
Hayes said the team made a lot of improvement on the defensive end, giving up only nine goals in its final five matches.
Dianna Munoz also received a senior award. Those awards go to seniors who have played a sport for four years.
Hayes said both seniors have meant a lot to the program over the past four years and were part of one sectional championship team.
“They stuck with us for four years. They had some ups and downs,” he said. “Dianna started out wanting to be a manager but realized it was fun to play soccer.”
Abby Lorenz received the Cougar Award. Hayes said it is a sportsmanship award plus a lot more.
“That is going to go to a player that has a good attitude, team spirit, supports her teammates and represents Trinity well,” he said.
The other special award was the most improved award, and it was presented to sophomore Hannah Helt.
“She came out this season definitely retaining everything she had learned her freshman year,” Hayes said. “Every game, she got smarter and stronger.”
There were 14 players on the roster, and seven were first-year players.
“They played more than they anticipated,” Hayes said. “I’m proud of them coming out of their comfort zone. We were very inexperienced. We didn’t have a whole lot of stats.”
Hayes said highlight games for him were beating Austin 2-1 and playing well against North Harrison in a 1-0 loss.
The Cougars lost to Brown County 2-0 in the sectional and finished 1-8. They had several matches canceled due to the weather.
One of the assistant coaches, Gary Myers, wasn’t able to attend every match and practice, but he attended several matches and spoke on the team’s progression throughout the season.
“I could see so much growth. The girls made progress, and they enjoyed the game,” he said.
Hayes announced his resignation as head coach of the Cougars. He spent five seasons in that position and said he needs to cut back on his hours with the soccer team because he needs to spend more time on his employment with Royalty Roofing.
He said he would be an assistant coach for the soccer team in the future.