The postseason soccer honors were announced earlier this week, and the Golden Bears were more than well represented, both coaches and players alike.
 
Starting with the coaches, the Taylor Noland/Clayton Schmitt combination again earned Coach of the Year honors. Schmitt goes to the summer sidelines with a 100-29-9 record, his 100^th came in the Final Four win over Brookstone.
 
Looking at the players, junior goalkeeper and Arkansas commit Mia Riddick has been named Player of the Year and more than deservingly so. Our All-World student/athlete didn't allow a goal for more than two months during one stretch of the season, the campaign that ended with the girls playing in the final dance.
 
In front of her, four made first team – Brooke Suttle, Riddick, Reese Martin, and Mary Lu Hudgins. Suttle – a superb basketball player as well – showed that she can connect from 3-point range on the grass as well with some of her long-range goals. 
 
Martin was a force at both ends, mainly defense, though her goal against Wesleyan with less than two minutes clinched the region title for our squad. As for Hudgins, she broke things up before they happened from her mid-field position and will be sorely missed after her graduation.
 
Moving to second team, Olivia Hutcherson, Sam Siegel, and Grayson Roberts made the grade – Hutcherson – a great athlete – can score and do it all, Siegel put in some key goals during the year, and Roberts was a defensive force throughout, often shutting down the oppositions' top scorers. 
 
The boys were also deservingly well-represented. Abraham Romero made First Team – he was the top scorer for Coach Tyler Santee & Company and was a thorn in defender's sides all year.
 
Ryan Strother – a handy man all over the field – was named Second Team, and Preston Cate, Ashton Gill, Max Moctezuma, and Luca Schittone all earned Third Team honors. 
 
Cate – a football kicker as well – kept the Bears in many games, while Gill, Moctezuma, and Schittone gave Santee valuable time whenever and wherever needed as the season moved on.
 
One more earned some love – Matthew Taylor was named Honorable Mention. He broke into the lineup quickly in making his name known.