Submitted
Postseason honors have begun for the Hays High soccer team following its state-qualifying season.
Five Indian seniors - Ivan Maldonado, Cedric Durr, Brecken Otte and twin brothers Cyler and Camden Luck - received all-conference honors in the Western Athletic Conference.
The Indians finished as runners-up in the WAC with a 5-2-1 record behind undefeated conference champion Dodge City (8-0).
Maldonado, Durr, Otte and Cyler Luck were all first-team WAC selections, while Camden Luck earned second-team recognition.
A standout forward, Maldonado broke the HHS single-season record with 29 goals, including six hat tricks, and also had 11 assists.
Goalkeeper Durr recorded 109 saves, including 16 in one match. He had seven clean sheets while protecting the Indian goal along with backs Otte and Cyler Luck. And Camden Luck was a team leader among the Indian midfielders.
The Indians finished 13-4-2 overall, advancing all the way to the Class 5A state quarterfinals.
Those were the most wins in a season since 2012 for HHS, which also came within one of tying the single-season school record of 14 victories.
The Indians' lone loss over an 11-game stretch the second half of the season was a 1-0 overtime thriller to Dodge City on October 6.
The Indians then went undefeated over the next seven-game stretch en route to winning a regional championship and making the state playoffs, where they lost to Maize South in the quarterfinals.
Three of the team's four losses in its memorable season were to state runners-up - 5A Maize and 6A Dodge City (twice).
The Indians' only other loss came early in the season to Topeka West, which HHS avenged with a 3-1 victory in the regional title game.