Following in the footsteps of his dad, Derek Carter, sophomore, has been playing soccer since he was five years old. 

“My dad got me into soccer, he played as a kid,” Carter said. “He played in college too, at Chapman University.”

With his club team Oregon Premier Football Club, Carter won regionals in Idaho, making it his proudest soccer accomplishment. But for the high school team, Carter has a couple of goals in place.

“My goal is to work as hard as I can, hopefully get some good playing time this season. I’m a sophomore so I don’t have super high expectations,” Carter said. “But I’m looking to improve a little bit over the season.”

Looking into the possibility of playoffs, Carter is eager to play the state’s runner up in mens soccer.

“I’m most looking forward to playing Jesuit,” Carter said. “They have a really good squad this year, and some great players on the team. I’m looking forward to it.”

Coming from a player who is on the varsity team, Carter has advice for each player trying to make the team.

“Play as much soccer as you can. Play club during the offseason,” Derek said. “Really work on individual traits that you feel like you maybe struggle in, or need to approve specifically, rather than trying to learn straight from the team. Work as hard as you can.”

Thinking of the future, Carter has plans for his soccer journey after high school.

“I want to play in college, maybe at like a [division] three level if I can,” Carter said. “Maybe just to help me get into school, things like that. But yeah I really enjoy being part of a team.”

Being a starting varsity player all three years of his high school career, Tristan Peia junior, leads the field as captain. Now an upperclassman, Peia has had to find ways to adjust to the new role he carries for the team.

“As a captain I have to lead by example,” Peia said. “I have to be really consistent with how I play.”

Peia started his soccer journey at only four years old, following in the footsteps of his father. Peia lives in a soccer household with multiple family members involved in the sport. 

“My dad [used to play], so he’s the reason I started playing soccer,” Peia said. “My little brother plays too.”

Similar to some of his high school teammates, Peia plays on United PDX, a club soccer team based out of Portland, Oregon. While traveling to national tournaments, Peia has worked toward multiple accomplishments such as earning second team all conference Elite Club National League (ECNL), and with his club team and winning the state championship three years in a row. 

For the high school season, Peia wants to work towards certain goals for himself and the team.

“The goal is to win a state championship,” Peia said. “For the next few games I just definitely want to attack more. I want to score a goal each game.”

Looking into the future, Peia wants to continue his soccer career in college. 

“I want to play college soccer, hopefully somewhere in California like Santa Clara [University],” Peia said. 

Sam Leedy, sophomore, is a second-year varsity soccer player who started the sport at three years old. Leedy was influenced at a young age by multiple family members to join soccer.

“I started playing soccer because my dad played in college, and so did a lot of my family,” Leedy said. “My dad, my uncle, and my grandpa all played soccer.”

This past year, Leedy earned first team all conference Elite Club National League (ECNL) for his club team while winning a state championship, and has similar goals for the high school season. 

“My goals are to win state for the high school,” Leedy said. “I also hope to get as many minutes as I can, and see how many assists I can get to help the team.”

A little over a year ago, Leedy had to deal with multiple injuries, but has since recovered.

“I’ve just dealt with a bunch of minor injuries,” Leedy said. “I injured my knee and was out for like a month.”

To JV players trying to make the varsity roster, Leedy has advice for those to wish to be on the team.

“Just work hard,” Leedy said. “Work hard in your free time, not just when everyone else is practicing. You have to go above and beyond.”

Looking ahead to the remainder of the season, Leedy is excited to play a team in the league. 

“I’m looking forward to playing Lakeridge High School because I have a lot of club teammates on that team,” Leedy said. “They think they’re better than us, and I don’t think that.”

Lincoln Kensinger, sophomore, has been on the varsity team since his freshman year. On the team he plays center attacking midfield. 

Like some of his teammates, Kensinger has been playing soccer for most of his life after being inspired by his brother and dad; the alum played on the West Linn team with him last season. In the offseason, he also plays for Oregon Premier Football Club (OPFC). 

Kensinger has already had many accomplishments throughout his soccer career, including playing in England and Spain. A great memory for Kensinger was winning regionals for soccer in 2023. Similarly he has also had success in bigger competitions. 

“I got a goal in nationals within one minute,” Kensinger said.

Throughout his career he has had a lot of injuries, one of his worst and most recent obstacles was severe damage to his back. 

“I broke my back and was out for eight months,” Kensinger said.

Despite the challenges, he hopes to play soccer in college, but is still deciding where.  Furthermore, he looks up to Neymar da Silva Santos Junior, as one of his favorite professional soccer players. 

This year, Kensinger is most excited to play against Lakeridge. 

“I have a couple of people on that team [that I know] and I am looking forward to playing them,” Kensinger said.

Careering on the family legacy, Ethan Caba, senior, has been playing soccer since he was four years old. This is Caba’s third year on varsity, and he can be found playing center midfield.

Caba’s spark for soccer was ignited by his father, who played college soccer, and his brother, who currently plays at the collegiate level.

“I started playing soccer because of my brother and my dad,  because both of them were playing soccer before me,” Caba said.

For Caba, soccer season stretches longer than the high school season, playing club year round for Oregon Premiere Football Club (OPFC). Caba recalls his freshman year on JV as a time he had a big accomplishment.

“What if I take it back to my freshman year on JV. You know, we were the best JV team in the state. We scored about 70 goals overall, and I had a lot of fun that year,” Caba said.

“I haven’t always been the biggest guy on the team, or the strongest,” Caba said. “So I’ve really had to work on skills with the ball to overcome that.”

Although Caba has his heart set on the state championship game, he does have one specific regular season game he is looking forward to playing.

“I’m really looking forward to playing Oregon City. You know, Battle of the bridge,” Caba said.

Caba has some helpful advice to offer for anyone looking to make the varsity roster in the future.

“Be patient, put in the work, and eventually you’ll make it,” Caba said.

Recent Tualatin transfer Will Seibert, junior, is a goalkeeper for the mens varsity soccer team. He’s been playing the sport for around 10 years. As a sophomore, Seibert was on the Tualatin High School varsity team as well.

“Making West Linn varsity [is my best accomplishment] to be honest,” Seibert said. “I was always on the lower team, never on the higher team [at Tualatin].”

Some of Seibert’s best memories come from traveling to and from games, while having fun with his team mates. 

When not playing for the high school team, Seibert plays on Oregon Premier Football Club (OPFC), a club team based out of West Linn.

Thinking about the future past high school, Seibert has goals he wants to reach, but is still keeping his options open.

“I want to play in college,” Seibert said. “I’m just trying to keep it open to any level, because a lot can happen in the next year or two.”

For his pregame music, Seibert has been recently listening to rap.

“I got a varied playlist of a lot of different songs, but ‘Everyday Hustle’ by Future [and Rick Ross], probably for the last few games,” Seibert said.

Finn Ryan, junior, is a first-year varsity player. He played recreationally for most of his life, but wanted more of a challenge and to compete at a more competitive level.

“One of my friends was like, ‘You should play, we need a goalkeeper,’” said Ryan. 

He decided to go for it, bringing him to the varsity team.

Ryan hopes to be able to prove himself as a player, and for the team to be great as a goal he has for this year. Ryan also set a goal to have no goals scored on him from the goalkeeper position

“I’m doing good so far,” said Ryan. 

Ryan is already looking forward to some of the games for this year, specifically against Lakeridge High School and Wilsonville High School.

“Well, my dad works in Wilsonville, and Lakeridge was like the house of champions,” said Ryan.

Ryan has enjoyed his time on the team, saying his favorite memory was a team bonding sleepover that the group did together at the beginning of the season.

Quinn Gates, junior, has been playing on the varsity team since freshman year and plays full back position on the team. Gates started playing soccer in kindergarten, and his dad, who was a former soccer player on the varsity team, was one of the aspects that inspired him to start playing.

“I just love the game. My favorite part about it is just playing it,” Gates said.

Last year, Gates made the first team in the Three Rivers All-league, and he hopes to make it once more for his junior year. Gates also expressed one of his goals for the whole team is to win the state competition.

“I want to win state [championship]. There’s nothing else than winning state, and we just haven’t hung up a [state champion] banner yet,” Gates said.

Aside from the team’s strive to win the state championship, Gates expressed his excitement for their game against Franklin High School.

“I’m looking forward to the game against Franklin [High School], because I feel like it’s going to be a really good game,” Gates said. “I think we need to prove ourselves, after a bad week last week, that we need to prove ourselves that we can be a top contender for state.”

Bonding with the team has been one of Gates’ favorite memories. The team often gets together outside of soccer, where some of Gates’ fondest memories lie.

As Gates’ last year on the team is approaching, he hopes to continue his soccer career in college after high school.

Steven Keresztes, senior, has been on the varsity team for three years. On the team he plays both winger and striker. Due to his dominance of his left foot, he prefers to play on the left side but is efficient on both sides of the field.  

Keresztes has been playing soccer for most of his life. He first encountered the sport because his dad played soccer and they would watch it together, including K League 1. 

“I grew up watching South Korean soccer,” Keresztes said.

Keresztes has faced many challenges in his career including a back injury two years ago. 

“I had this iliotibial band syndrome. It’s like the radius of your whole back. It’s pretty bad,” Keresztes said. 

Despite the difficulties, Keresztes has many good memories from soccer, including but not limited to his time playing as goalie. 

“I was a goalie and I scored a corner kick,” Keresztes said.

To show his leadership as an upperclassman, Keresztes plans on uplifting and encouraging his teammates throughout the season. 

“Just motivate the guys to get them on the right tone,” Keresztes said.As a senior on the team, Keresztes has advice for any underclassmen looking to join the varsity team. 

“Put in the work and show up,” Keresztes said.

Jonas Taylor, sophomore, plays right center back for the school’s varsity soccer team. Taylor has been playing soccer since he was a kid, his position changing from winger to the position he plays now.

“My parents wanted me to be an athletic kid, so they put me in a lot of sports,” Taylor said. “I played baseball, hockey, soccer, all of them, and kept with [soccer] throughout the years.”

Soccer was not only a sport that Taylor did well at and that his friends played, but also one that he has family connections to. Playing with his family is one of his favorite memories of soccer.

Now, Taylor plays soccer not only for West Linn but also for an Oregon Premier Football Club (OPFC) team. But two years ago, Taylor wasn’t able to compete.

“I broke my foot and recovering from that was hard,” Taylor said. “I had to do a lot of physical therapy, a lot of weight room, and just kind of resting on it, staying off it.”

On the West Linn team, Taylor aims to win this season’s state championship. 

“That means having technical practices, good games, and just kind of staying positive throughout the time,” Taylor said.

After playing soccer for as long as he can remember, Taylor’s biggest achievement happened last year.

“I was at [Oregon Development Program] this past year and we won the regional championship,” Taylor said.

Taylor encourages junior varsity soccer players aspiring to make it to varsity to not stop trying to get to the next level.

“Just keep going. There’s no reason to stop, especially when you’re at that JV level, it’s competitive,” Taylor said. “Just go as hard and you can and you’ll get there for sure.”

Haaken Retzlaff, senior, plays center midfielder for the high school team as a third-year varsity player. Retzlaff was enticed with the sport at a young age, and has been playing ever since.

“I’ve been playing for as long as I can remember, so like four or five years old,” Reztlaff said. “It was the sport that I kind of connected most with, and that’s why I was drawn to it I would say.”

This past summer, Retzlaff played with his club team, Oregon Premier Football Club, and had many accomplishments, similar to his goals for the season.

“One of my biggest accomplishments was qualifying and going to nationals this past summer. It was really fun,” Retzlaff said. “And our goal for this season is to win state. I think that’s kind of our only goal.”

Contrasting his accomplishments, Reztlaff has faced some adversity during his soccer career. 

“An obstacle is my size because I have kind of a smaller stature, but I’ve learned to overcome that,” Retzlaff said.

Retzlaff also had some wisdom for athletes aiming to make varsity in the future.

“Work hard. Talent without hard work is nothing,” Reztlaff said. “So I would say the base is just working hard.”

As a senior on a youthful team, Retzlaff plays as a seasoned athlete on and off the field.

“I would like to mentor the younger kids, kind of show them around,” Retzlaff said. “Show them what it means to be on varsity.”

Working his way up the soccer career ladder, Miles Miller, senior, is beginning his third year on the mens varsity soccer team as a center-midfielder. Miller has been a part of several different teams throughout his soccer career. 

“[I’ve been playing soccer] since like, three or four years old because my dad coached my little league team in Portland,” Miller said. “I was on Crossfire [Premier Soccer Club] in sixth and seventh grade, [then] Eastside Timbers in Portland. I just love the sport, I’ve started every team I’ve been on.”

His experience on varsity has not come without its challenges. High school teammates sometimes must collaborate not only on the field, but also in their academic and personal lives.

“The dynamics with the team, it can be hard to navigate that,” Miller said. “You just want to be as positive as possible, during every practice, every game, and have a positive attitude. I don’t always do that, but I try to.”

Miller believes that his personal strengths help him be a leader on the team.

“I can be vocal,” Miller said. “There’s a reason a lot of other players aren’t vocal about what needs to be done– they’ll think it but they won’t always say it.”

This season, Miller has set goals with the intention of finishing his high school career strong, with no guarantee of playing soccer in college.

“I want to help the team [and] play as much as I can, I want to help the team win state,” Miller said. “[I’ll play in college] If the situation lends itself, but I’m not gonna sell out to play college soccer.”

Already a seasoned player himself, Miller’s joy for the sport helps his performance and attitude. He recommends a similar mindset to younger players.

“Spend as much time as you can around the sport. Watch it, enjoy it, make sure you’re having fun,” Miller said. “You represent the place you grew up in, you’re playing in front of your fans, people you’ve known for a long time.”

Following in his brother’s footsteps, Chririan Inzunza, junior, has been playing soccer for as long as he could remember.

“My parents wanted me to play something, and my brothers had already been playing, so they thought they’d just have me do the same,” said Inzunza.

His main position is right back, but he has also played anywhere in the back line. Starting as a freshman, he has been on varsity for the last three years. His most memorable soccer moment was last season.

“When I scored my first varsity goal— that was pretty, pretty dope,” Inzunza said.

Inzuaza has been through some challenges in the past that led him to be the player he is today, including an obstacle he faced with the team during the 2022 season 

“Freshman year, one of our first games, we played Jesuit and we were smacked 7-0,” Inzunza said.

Now, in this season, he’s feeling optimistic about the team’s chances at winning more games in the regular season and playoffs. 

“This season, our team looks really strong,” Inzunza said. “So we’re hoping to at least win [the Three Rivers League] and obviously win state.” 

Some inspiration for him is Kevin De Bruyne, a midfielder for Manchester City. During his pregame warm ups, he finds the song, ‘Feel It Still’ by Portugal. The Man gets him ready mentally.

Cooper Roms, sophomore, finds his spot on the mens varsity soccer team as a fullback. Roms has been playing for 10 years, with this year being his first on varsity.

“My cousin got me into [soccer]. Well, my family in general really likes soccer, so I kind of went after my sisters,” Roms said.

Outside of varsity soccer, Roms plays for club team Oregon Premier Football Club (FC), making it to regionals in his sixth grade year. Throughout his time playing soccer, Roms has gone through challenges that set him back in his career.

“There was this time in Florida, [where] I sprained my ankle, and so I had to make a comeback, ease my way back into the soccer. After that, I had a three, four month break,” Roms said. “It was pretty difficult and my fitness started to go down a little bit because I wasn’t moving. Then I had to get my fitness up and obviously the strength of my foot on the right half started to dwindle, so I had to build it back up.”

Beyond high school, Roms is looking to continue playing and is hoping to go far with the varsity team.

“I really want to go all the way and try to make it to the state finals and win the title for the school,” Roms said. “Personally, just trying to get notice from colleges, just put my name out there.”

Coming up from junior varsity (JV) to varsity, Roms believes in keeping a good mentality.

“Keep your head up. Half of the battle is coachability and just having a good mentality. Then everything else will kind of come into place,” Roms said.

Playing soccer for his entire life, Lewis Rumrey, junior, finds his position predominantly on the wing, while also being able to play in other positions. Continuing into his third year on the varsity team, Rumrey transferred from Medford to West Linn.

“[The transfer to] West Linn has been really good because the competition is a lot better and the team is a lot better. It’s been a great transition,” Rumrey said.

Outside of school, Rumrey plays for club team United PDX, where he and the rest of the team won state.

“Winning state was pretty cool. [When I made] the [Olympic Development Team] for the first time I still lived in Medford, so it was like a really long drive up here, but that was pretty cool,” Rumrey said.

In his debut for West Linn, Rumrey scored a goal to help out West Linn. But throughout his career, Rumrey has gone through injury trouble.

“I’ve broken my wrist and the growth plate on my tibia,” Rumery said. “I also fractured my wrist in eighth grade summer, and injured my ankle freshman year.”  

Rumery has simple advice for junior varsity (JV) players trying to make the varsity roster. 

“Just never give up. Yeah never give up,” Rumrey said.

Theodore Marshall-Hilliker, senior, has been playing soccer since the age of five with his main motivation being that he wanted to play a sport. 

On the varsity mens soccer team, Marshall plays right back, with this being his first year on the roster. When talking about his soccer accomplishments Marshall recalls tryouts for this season.

“Making this team is [my biggest achievement],” Marshall said.

Alongside varsity soccer, Marshall plays for the club team Oregon Premier Football Club (FC), similar to other athletes on the varsity team. Later in the season is the game Marshall is most excited to play.

“Oregon City because I have a lot of teammates from [Oregon Premier Football Club] on that team,” Marshall said.

In the future, Marshall is hoping to continue playing soccer in college, but not certain where at the moment.

Marshall has advice for JV players aiming to make varsity.

“Just keep your head up and keep working in what ways you’re looking to demonstrate your leadership, just keep a positive attitude,” Marshall said.

Cooper Gilbo, junior, has been on the varsity team since his freshman year. On the varsity team, he plays winger.

Soccer has been a part of his life since he was three years old.

“I played all the sports as a kid, like every kid, but I just liked something about [soccer],” Gilbo said.

On top of being part of the varsity team, he also plays on the United PDX club team. 

Gilbo has had many accomplishments in his soccer career including, getting asked to play for a team in Arizona and at the Timbers Academy. 

Gilbo would love to win state with the varsity team, but he has other goals in mind.

“Just be the best team we can be,” Gilbo said. 

In the future, Gilbo is looking to play Division I soccer at either San Diego State University, Oregon State University, University of Portland, or at University of North Carolina. 

Gilbo’s favorite soccer memory is making the varsity team his freshman year.

Neil Sehgal, senior, plays on the varsity soccer team as a center midfielder. He’s been playing the sport since the age of five, and has a total of 12 years of experience. 

It’s his first year on varsity, and Sehgal has certain personal goals he has set for himself to help better his game. 

“[I want to] improve as a player,” Sehgal said. “Do whatever I can to help the team.” 

In recent years, Sehgal has been faced with adversity while struggling with injury, such as difficulty with his knee.

“I think sophomore year, I had a pretty significant knee injury,” Sehgal said. “And I missed almost the whole season.” 

Coming from the JV team, Sehgal has advice for athletes aiming to make the varsity roster in upcoming years.   

“Work hard everyday, everyday in practice,” Sehgal said.

Jack Jacobs, junior, plays midfield on the team. Jacobs has been a part of the varsity roster since freshman year, and has been playing soccer for 13 years.

Jacobs was first attracted to the sport when he was three years old, because of his love for scoring goals. For the upcoming season, Jacobs hopes that he and his team can earn the title of state champions.

“My goal is to win it. I want to win state,” Jacobs said.

Aside from striving to win state, Jacobs also looks forward to the possibility of playing against Jesuit High School, hoping for a rematch after last year’s loss to the school in the quarterfinals.

After high school, Jacobs hopes to continue his soccer career in college. Jacobs has been looking into schools in Southern California, hoping to be close to family.

Reflecting back to Jacobs’ high school soccer career, one of his favorite memories that he recalls have been during last season’s playoffs.

“Making it to the quarterfinals, it was a really cool experience, getting our part, even though we lost it was really fun and [I enjoyed] all the games up to that,” Jacobs said. 

Zander Morris, junior, has played soccer since he was three years old. Currently, he plays

striker for the varsity team and has played on varsity since his freshman year. 

“I wanted a sport to play, and my family introduced me to soccer while I was young through watching and stuff, and my parents bought me a little soccer ball,” Morris said. 

Outside of school, Morris plays for the Oregon Premier Football Club (OPFC) and has many goals for himself and his team this year. 

“[I want to] win a title, and score some goals,” Morris said. 

In the future, Morris hopes to continue his soccer career in college. 

“I want to go out of state and then Division II level, at least, otherwise I won’t play,” Morris said. 

While looking ahead to the teams he will play this season, Morris has one in particular he’s looking forward to. 

“My friends play on the Lakeridge team, and I want to beat them because they won last year,” Morris said. 

Morris has some advice to offer anyone trying to make the varsity team and play for West Linn. 

“Just work hard, do your best, and have a heart of a lion,” Morris said.