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As one of eight seniors on the Niwot High School girls soccer team, Tiffany Yie said it was an exciting yet difficult experience playing her final two games for the Cougars, although winning both made things at least a little easier.

"A lot of the games were really special for me because this year I really cherished each game rather than like, 'Oh, I still have another year, it doesn't really matter what happens,'" said Yie, who tallied a goal and two assists in Niwot's senior day win over Roosevelt High on May 2. "(I was) putting my best foot forward and I feel like a lot of the team also realized that we just wanted to have fun and enjoy our last season."

Yie's approach to her fourth and final run as a Niwot varsity midfielder ultimately left her feeling content when the season officially concluded following a 2-0 win at Mountain View High School on May 3. Her 19 points, which included seven goals and five assists, led a 6-8-1 Cougars team that narrowly missed the state playoffs.

With the same number of points scored last season, Yie was named a Class 4A girls soccer all-state honorable mention.

But beyond the numbers and personal accolades, Yie was perhaps most proud of the culture her senior class helped build under first-year head coach Stephen Dimit. Helping freshmen along, for example, was a priority from the start of the season, Yie believed.

"Having a new coach like coach Dimit, the team was a lot different this year in how we worked together," Yie said. "Our goals were a lot more team-oriented, which was nice."

Niwot's freshmen responded to the seniors' guidance with a combined 13 points from Heather Humphrey, Brynn Schlarb and Rylie Fletemeyer.

During her junior and senior years, Yie lent a helping hand to students with special needs by volunteering her time on both Niwot's unified bowling and basketball teams.

"Junior year, (athletic director) Joe Brown asked me to join the (unified) basketball team," said Yie, who played a pair of seasons on the Niwot girls varsity basketball team as well. "It was our first year playing in the unified sports program and I was a little nervous because none of us really knew what we were doing, but the coaches were really awesome and it was a really good time... It was a really good way to unite the community and it opened my eyes to a lot of things."

Yie plans on studying business administration next fall at Georgia Tech where she also hopes to join the university's unified soccer team.