Four students, including Milton’s Luke Hessenauer and Albany’s Alyssa Knauf, have been named as finalists for the fourth annual Jeff Sauer Award.

The award is presented annually to "recognize good high school hockey players being great people," according to a release from the Coach Sauer Foundation on Monday.

The nominees include two boys and two girls from the state: Hessenauer, a senior defenseman from Milton; Braden Kloida, a senior defenseman from the Brookfield Stars; Knauf, a senior forward from Albany and the Rock County Fury (Beloit Memorial co-op); and Zoe Uihlein, a senior forward from University School of Milwaukee.

The annual award seeks to encourage community service among girls and boys high school hockey players in Wisconsin.

Shane Ryan, a goalie from Madison Edgewood, was the first recipient. Parker Esswein of Wauwatosa East and the Brookfield Stars won the award in 2019. Ava Jambor of Middleton High School and the Metro Lynx was last year’s winner.

The award is named after former University of Wisconsin coach and hockey ambassador Jeff Sauer, who died in February, 2017.

The Coach Sauer Foundation, which sponsors the award, was impressed with all the nominated candidates and their stories of student-athletes who deserve notice for reasons that ultimately are more important than personal statistics, according to the release.

The award is scheduled to be presented next week as part of the Wisconsin High School Hockey Coaches annual banquet prior to the state tournament.