A milestone season extended into the postseason for the Albert Lea High School girls’ soccer team.

The Tigers, who placed second in the Big Nine for their best finish ever, also had their most representatives yet on the all-conference team. Four girls were voted to the first team, another received an honorable mention.

&uot;It was a great season,&uot; said coach Todd Lange, whose team went 8-2-2 in the Big Nine and 11-5-3 overall. &uot;Not only were we successful but, more importantly, I think we all had a lot of fun. It was a great time.&uot;

Amy Ravenhorst, Steph Overgaard, Liz Reynen and Laura Hillman were the Tigers’ all-conference selections. Katie Dooley got an honorable mention.

Ravenhorst, a senior midfielder and a six-year varsity player, was all-conference for the second year in a row and earned all-state honors this year. She was second on the team with nine goals and five assists. Ravenhorst ended her season last week at the Metrodome, playing in the Senior Classic for all-state seniors.

&uot;Amy has been the heart of the team for many years,&uot; said Lange. &uot;She was just sort of a rallying point.&uot;

Lange said a video shown at the team’s awards banquet epitomized her high school career.

&uot;She was surrounded by three defenders, moving the ball around, but no one could get the ball away from her,&uot; said Lange. &uot;That unrelenting effort was really characteristic of Amy.&uot;

Overgaard, who received honorable mention on last year’s all-conference team as a junior, was the glue of the defense while providing leadership as a co-captain. She scored two goals and had one assist.

&uot;Steph played almost every minute of every game,&uot; said Lange. &uot;She was almost always in there, and we relied on her to a great extent. She saved a great many goals.&uot;

Reynen, also a senior co-captain, was the Tigers’ goalie.

&uot;Liz won the Team Spirit Award, voted on by the players, and that’s a good description of her,&uot; said Lange. &uot;She constantly buoyed team spirit and got the girls fired up. She’s a great goalkeeper. The Prior Lake coach asked me if I had put her up for any awards. He said he’d vote for her.&uot;

Hillman, a freshman forward, led the Tigers with 11 goals and eight assists, finishing 20th in the state in scoring.

&uot;Laura is a great young talent,&uot; said Lange. &uot;She has that sort of unteachable skill of being in the right place at the right time. She was able to pick up a lot of goals with a sort of uncanny knack of being there.&uot;

Dooley was a junior defender. She tallied two goals.

&uot;Katie is the person we most often go to for long kicks, precision kicks,&uot; said Lange. &uot;She’s another one who ends up playing most of the game because she’s so solid and consistent. She’s a very smart, patient defender.&uot;