Following a season that saw the Mountain View High School boys’ soccer team qualify for the 3A State Soccer Tournament for the first time in program history, seven Buffalos were recognized late last month by the Wyoming Coaches Association for their outstanding contributions on the soccer field.

Also recognized was head coach Cathy Piekkola, who was named 3A West Coach of the Year, voted on by the other coaches in the conference.

“I have a great group of coaches that I work with in the 3A West, and I don't know, I guess I just think they're kind,” Piekkola said, laughing. “I don't know, I don't really like the focus on me, I guess. It's kind of cool. I mean, I was just lucky to have a great team – they made me look good.”

Piekkola also heaped praise on her assistant coaches, Matt Clark and volunteer assistant Doug Piekkola.

“My assistants are amazing, and deserve just as much recognition,” coach Piekkola said. “We had such a large number of players out this year. I went to the school AD, and they just didn't have it in the budget to pay somebody. Doug [Piekkola] was willing to come out and give us his time in the afternoon, so we were able to have three coaches.”

As for player accolades, seniors Kayd Allen and Nash Piekkola were named to the 3A West All-Conference and 3A All-State Teams, while fellow senior Brockton Walker was named to the 3A West All-Conference Team. The Buffalos finished their 2025 campaign with an 8-6 record, 6-4 in the 3A West.

Receiving 3A West All-Conference Honorable Mention honors were senior defender Landon Solaas, senior midfielder/forward Casey Walker and junior goalkeeper Colter Tims.

Nash Piekkola led the Buffalos in all offensive categories, finishing the season with 24 points: 9 goals, 6 assists and 40 shots on goal.

“Ever since he was a freshman, Nash has been just the spark for our attack,” coach Piekkola said. “He has great field vision, and he has great footwork. He's able to distribute well. Very unselfish player. And I think he ended with 10 and six assists on the season, which is pretty great for the amount of goals that we scored. His skill and what he contributes will be missed next year for sure.”

A starting center back for the last two seasons, Allen was a fearless defender who wasn’t afraid to win balls out of the air.

“Kayd won, I don't know how many balls out of the air – he would keep them out of the keeper’s hands, basically,” Piekkola said. “He did such a great job just cleaning up, whether out of the air or on the ground. And then there were times that I was able to push him up into the attack. He's got good ball work and distribution, and works really well with Nash in the attack. I felt he really stepped up and was a great leader on that back line. He's one that I would bring in for corner kicks, trying to get something out of the air. And he's just fearless. Some guys just don't want to head the ball and I don't blame them one bit. But Kayd had no problem with it.”

A mainstay the last few seasons at left fullback, Brockton Walker finished the season with three points, courtesy of a goal and an assist. 

“Sometimes you wonder by a kid’s senior year if they've already hit their ceiling,” Piekkola said. “But I felt like my senior group had not. It was so fun just to see them continuing to grow, and Brockton was definitely one of those. He jumped so many balls and then was putting us on the counter attack. He had really good distribution – whether feeding up to my left wing or just into the center of the field for my forward and attacking midfielder. But I think just most critical was just how aggressive and physical he was on that back line – just having that foresight and ability to anticipate and jump those passes, and then just send us onto the attack.”

Senior center back Solaas finished with two goals and an assist in 2025. With his speed and athleticism, Piekkola had originally planned on playing Solaas at wing, before moving him to a defender’s role.

“I thought he would do a great job with his speed, and give us more opportunity to score,” Piekkola explained. “Then after we had our first preseason tournament in Pinedale, I knew that I needed to make a different change, and so I put him onto the back line as a center back. He made the switch with no issues, no complaints. He’s just a great guy, a good player. A hard worker.”

A midfielder/forward, senior Casey Walker was second on the team in points with 12: 5 goals and 2 assists. A tenacious competitor, Piekkola was most impressed with Walker’s toughness.

“Casey – I don't know what to say about him,” Piekkola said. I mean, he played both state tournament games on a busted up ankle. Right. Leaving town, our trainer said, ‘I don't think he's going to be able to play. I'm not going to say he can't, but I'm going to leave it up to him.’ And there was no telling him he couldn't. We got him taped up, and I just figured, well, we'll see what he can do. And he did a great job for us. But all season –  I mean, he's a physical player. He has a nose for the goal. He doesn't have a ton of quickness, but he makes it up on just his desire to get out and work hard and to play strong defense. He has so much heart, and was just a big contributor.”

The lone Buffalo honored who will be returning next year, Tims gave up just 14 goals with 56 saves this season, finishing with an 80% save percentage.

“Colter Tims – this was his third year as our starting keeper,” Piekkola said. “He just does a great job for us. He’s another one who’s fearless – I mean, there's nothing like having somebody coming down one-on-one with you. Being willing to sacrifice your body, sliding out, trying to deflect the ball or win the ball. He did a great job for us. I think we only had like maybe 14, 15 goals scored on us this season, which is remarkably different from previous years. Colter had some really good saves. He was deserving of being mentioned.”