2010 All-State Soccer: Bonneville's Jaiden Thornock named Ms. Soccer

No one had to tell Jaiden Thornock just how special a moment it was when she and her teammates collected a state championship trophy at Rio Tinto Stadium last month.

It was just the second time in school history that Bonneville had captured a 4A girls soccer crown. More meaningful to Thornock was the fact she had played on both title-winning teams.

"It's definitely amazing," Thornock said. "It's something a lot of people are never able to experience in their lives, so I definitely feel honored and lucky."

The twin title runs for the

Lakers were made more special because of the role that Thornock played in getting Bonneville's program to that point.

For the past three seasons, Thornock's inspired play helped elevate her team into reaching the 4A title game three straight times — and winning it all twice. She played the part of a great player who made her team one of the best in the state during her high school career.

For that reason, Thornock is a natural choice to be selected as Ms. Soccer by the Deseret News for the 2010 season.

Lakers coach Lane Barker said that the senior forward is a special player who helped change the face of a team that needed to win a play-in game just to make the playoffs two years ago.

"Words can't describe what she's done for our program," Barker said. "She's had a great supporting cast, but every team needs a great striker. You've got to have a great striker, and she's been it every year."

Thornock burst onto the scene as a sophomore when she scored 19 goals and helped her team make the unlikely journey from fifth seed to state champions that fall. Even though she was a younger player, Thornock emerged as the sort of leader her team needed on offense.

It was a role Thornock was willing to embrace.

"I always felt like I was ready," Thornock said. "I always try to be as confident as I can be and I knew that coming in unconfident wasn't going to get me anywhere. I knew that I could come in confident and I could play with these older girls."

Thornock proved she was no one-year wonder, either. She scored 26 goals to lead the 4A ranks as a junior and came back with 19 goals again as a senior. In many cases, these goals came in clutch moments that lifted Bonneville to vital victories.

Her evolution as a soccer player should not surprise anyone close to Thornock. Soccer has been in her blood from the earliest age.