Old Lyme’s Mya Johnson looks at her mother, Lori, as a role model as much as she does a parent.

“She’s just the sweetest woman,” said Johnson, who was a freshman on the Connecticut College women’s soccer team last fall. “I’m sure that everyone says that about their mom. I try to be more like her every day because she’s the most kindhearted person. She really cares about everybody.”

“She doesn’t have a bad word to say about anyone. That’s beyond me. Her kindness is infectious.”

Mya Johnson had one of the most decorated careers in Connecticut high school soccer history. She scored a program-record 101 goals for Old Lyme and helped it win four consecutive Class S titles, tying for the second-most successive titles in CIAC girls’ soccer history.

Johnson understandably had many college suitors, but she didn’t want to stray too far from home because of her parents, Lori and Rick.

“All throughout high school, middle school, premier league, all throughout my career, both my parents have been such advocates for me,” she said. “I stayed close to home so they could watch me play. You could just tell how much joy they get seeing me play, which makes me feel joy.

“A lot of kids are excited to go far away (to college). My parents are my best friends.”

The Camels' second game last season was on a Saturday at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. It’s about a 4½ hour drive from the Johnsons' home in Old Lyme. It’s quite a long ride, especially given how many Connecticut residents consider a trip from New London to New Haven, or Hartford to Stamford, to be the equivalent of traversing the Oregon Trail.

“My mom said, ‘I’m driving up. I’m not missing that game,’” Mya Johnson said. “The game was being broadcast online. I told her, ‘Mom, don’t spend all that money to get a hotel.’ She said, ‘no, I’m watching you play.’

“It’s so awesome to know that I’m not just playing for myself. I’m playing for her.”

n.griffen@theday.com