(photo by Jim Lindquist)
The good news for the Tigers this spring was they posted the program's first-ever varsity win at Owatonna; the bad news was that injury after injury to key players kept them from any more victories.
"We had a myriad of injuries that hamstrung us all year," coach Paul Sorenson said. "Tyler Klotz, our defensive captain missed 11 of 13 games and Alex Rojesky, a starting midfielder missed 12. We piece-mealed lineups together all year. I'm very proud of how our players stepped up."
Soresnon handed out 24 varsity letters to players for their efforts during the 2011 season, including 10 seniors: Ian Eich, Blair Berg, Justin Rees, Kyle Jensen, Luke Brevik, Quinn Malcolm, Evan Workman, John Scoles, Tyler Tutewohl-Klotz and Jake Lee.
Underclassmen monogram winners included juniors Mitch Collier, Trevor Howard, Matt Ackerman, Jake Mendala, Marques Words and Charlie Weierke; sophomores Joey Todd,, Jake Bauman, Matt Heinzerling-Wiese and Nathan Brunelle and freshmen Cory Rudrud, Kevin Clifton, Dan Block and Michael Thompson. Managers Christian Bell and Keegan Marquardt also won varsity letters.
Ackerman won the Team Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award while Collier and Weierke were named offensive and defensive MVP's respectively. Rees took home the "Team Player" award and Block was named Rookie of the Year.
Soresnon also recognized the strong play of the junior varsity team that won five of 12 contests.
"They played with intensity and passion and as a team all season," he said.
With the team's top five scorers in Collier, Ackerman, Howard, Baumnan and Words and starting goalie Weierke all slated to return next spring, Soresnon said the future of his program looks solid.
"The building blocks are in place and the new season started the minute after our section loss," he said. "Many camps, clinics and weight/cardio programs have been implemented and our players have been encouraged to participate."
