Starting soccer when she was five, Aimee Sorenson, sophomore, is returning for her second year as a left-back for the team.

“I like to make a lot of runs and get open so that the midfielders can find me and I can find crosses. I’m a very attacking mindset person, but I defend when I need to,” Sorenson said.

Although she is back for another year, Sorenson is currently out with an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury.

“I want to get back as soon as I can, but I also want to do it in a safe way that I feel comfortable doing knowing that I’m 100%,” Sorenson said. “I’ve had friends that haven’t been 100% coming back, and then they re-tear their ACL. I just want to take my time, and if I can come back as soon as possible, if I feel comfortable, then I’ll do that. But for now, I just want to be safe coming back.”

Outside of varsity soccer, Soreson plays for the 2009 Portland Thorns Academy team, and has been since 2020. Having professional role models has also helped improve her performance.

“[My favorite player is] definitely Sophia Smith. She’s a big role model [for me]. And she plays for the Thorns, which is really cool,” Sorenson said. “It’s really cool getting to watch her, she’s just such a big role model to a lot of young athletes and I think she has really good morals.” 

Sorenson recommends that players aspiring to reach higher levels should continue to put in hard work. 

“I would definitely say just keep putting in the work. Just do your practice outside of work to make yourself better. If you don’t train outside of this, it’s only hurting yourself. You can have so much potential and do so good, if you help yourself,” Sorenson said.

Leading the field as a captain, Cassidy Harding, senior, plays attacking midfielder. However, her position has varied through her four years to benefit the varsity team.

“I used to play forward as a freshman and sophomore, and then I moved my junior and senior year,” Harding said. “It just fits better for the team and the team atmosphere, stuff like that. It’s kind of a more needed position.”

Harding has been a starter for the varsity team for three years in a row and has grown accustomed to the spot.

“Freshman year was definitely more nerve wracking as I was one of the youngest players on the team,” Harding said. “But looking into sophomore and junior year I felt more comfortable. I really got to make new friends, got to see the field a little bit more, and it was really fun.”

Throughout her soccer career, Harding has accomplishments both personally and with the varsity team.

“I would say my biggest accomplishment is getting second team all state last year,” Harding said. “Then also as a team, making it to the state championship my sophomore year which was the first time in program history.”

With 11 underclassmen rostered on the varsity team this year, Harding now leads the field as a captain, and has certain philosophies she follows.

“I just want to have communication while being supportive, always being there for someone either if that’s talking or if that’s helping someone when they get beat, and winning the ball for them,” Harding said. “My biggest goal is just having good communication with everyone on the field.”

Looking into the future past her high school career, Harding is also focusing on playing at the collegiate level.

“I’m looking to play in college,” Harding said. “I’ve decided between Portland State [University], Linfield [University], and Western Oregon [University].”

Varying positions for the high school varsity team, Amira Mullen, sophomore, has adapted to multiple roles this season. 

“This year in particular, I’ve been playing defensive mid[field] and left center back,” Mullen said. “I’ve never played defense before this year, and on my club team I’m typically more of an attacking player, either attacking mid, sometimes center forward, so it’s definitely a big change.” 

Like other kids, Mullen started soccer at a young age by the influence of her parents. 

“[I started playing soccer] when I was three, so my whole life from when I could start playing,” Mullen said. “I feel like a lot of people just get thrown into soccer when they’re kids, and some people just stick with it. And I just kind of did. My dad was always my coach [and] it was always fun.”

Mullen views making varsity as a freshman as one of her biggest accomplishments, but it was no easy feat. 

“In seventh grade I started working out a lot more trying to get ready to play with older people. I just started working outside of practice,” Mullen said. 

For JV players aiming to make the varsity team, Mullen has advice to do so. 

“I just say working hard is one of the reasons that I made varsity as a freshman and just showing up a ton. I went to all the things I could go to,” Mullen said. “ I think just getting your face shown and having the coaches know who you are, and then being able to show your skill to being a team player.”

As one of the three freshmen on varsity, Brystol Leslie is honored to be on the team.  

“It’s really exciting. I was really happy,” Leslie said. “I was super nervous and I was worried I wasn’t gonna make it. I did, and it was just such a great experience. It’s such a cool thing to be able to say.” 

Leslie plays centermidfield and occasionally forward. Starting the sport around three years old, and with 11 years of practice to show for it, Leslie started for multiple reasons. 

“I started playing because my dad played soccer and I just had a bunch of energy as a kid, so my dad put me in a game and I did really well,” Leslie said.

Leslie plays for a Washington Soccer Club, Seattle United, and has also made the Oregon Development Program Regional Team.

Leslie is accustomed to being around older players, so the transition to being a freshman on varsity was familiar to her.  

“The first penalty kick I ever scored was against a team [who all were] two years older than me,” Leslie said. “We were in the finals and we went into a penalty shootout. I was the youngest one there, and I took a penalty and scored it, which was the winning shot.”

Even as one of the youngest players on the team, Leslie is looking forward to the future, with the varsity team.

“I’m really excited to be in Cassidy [Harding’s] shoes, to help the freshmen,” Leslie said. “She’s such a good leader. She’s nice on the field, but she’ll still get on you and coach you. She encourages you but is harsh on you when you need it.” 

Looking beyond high school, Leslie strives to play in college, with private schools such as Texas Christian University, Brigham Young University, Santa Clara University, and Stanford University being her top choices. 

Ellis Highland, sophomore, is a striker for the team, playing her second year of high school soccer. Highland has been playing the sport since kindergarten.

“My mom kind of put me in it and both my older sisters played before me, so I wanted to be like them,” Highland said.

Highland is currently part of the club team United PDX. Her team won Surf Cup Northwest in July, a tournament for club teams. 

On the high school team, Highland aspires to lead and help the team in the upcoming school years.

“It is probably one of my goals when I’m a senior, to be a captain. But I also just want to set an example for some of the incoming underclassmen,” Highland said. “And I want to be a source where people can ask for help and feel comfortable.”

For now, Highland has found role models in the school’s current upperclassmen.

“They set an example for the rest of the team and I just find them really funny and nice, and they’re also really athletic and I want to strive to play like them,” Highland said.

Beyond high school, Highland hopes to continue playing soccer during college. 

“I’m not really sure about any schools yet, but any kind of college soccer sounds fun,” Highland said.

Highland’s awaited game of the year, an aspiration that doesn’t have to wait until future years, is their game against Jesuit, whom they pulled off a close victory against in the previous season.

“Last year we barely beat Jesuit, and I’d love to beat them with a sooner lead because we didn’t beat them until [penalty kicks],” Highland said. “I’d like to beat them before we go into overtime.”

Highland is excited for the future, but is also focused on the present.

“I have a lot of fun with everyone, and I feel like we’re definitely a higher level school when it comes to sports, so it gives me a lot more opportunities,” Highland said.

Kicking off her third year on the womens varsity soccer team, Emily Pierce, junior, has grown into her role as a left wing-back. During her first year on the team as a freshman, she didn’t get many opportunities to play.

“That’s expected, being a freshman, but it made me want to push to be better and to work harder and to work on my skill, and now I’m starting,” Pierce said. “It might be frustrating, but you have to believe that you can do it and you have to believe that you’re a good player, and just continue working hard because as long as you continue working, they’ll see that, and that’s what’s most important.”

Pierce began her soccer journey when she was in kindergarten, and has played on both club and school teams since, her club team being Oregon Premier Football Club (OPFC). Despite her years of soccer experience, Pierce still felt nervous at her tryout.

“I’ve been on varsity since freshman year. I was really, really nervous, especially when I made the team,” Pierce said. “I didn’t know anybody, so that was really nerve wracking for me, but I made friends and the seniors were really nice.”

Pierce has noticed differences between her club and school soccer teams.

“We get to travel a lot more [in the club team], and we get more opportunities towards college recruitment camps and stuff,” Pierce said. “Obviously it’s longer and you get to play through all the seasons, and it’s fun— both of them are equally fun I’d say.”

Throughout her time in both school and club teams, Pierce has honed in and worked to improve some of her skills.

“My touch and my attacking [have improved], because the position I play, you go up and down [the field] so you need to know how to attack while also getting back and defending,” Pierce said. “People told me I was really fast and I needed to use that to go forward more, my coaches would always tell me that. So I’ve been kind of learning how to do that, and I think that really has improved my play.”

As a team, Pierce believes that their respect and sportsmanship helps them stand out amongst their competitors.

“I think we’re a very genuine and humble team,” Pierce said. “I know of other teams that say bad things [or] they dig deep to find out things about other teams— we don’t do that. We’re pretty respectful, we don’t make fun of you. We just try our best and we just work hard. I think that’s something that I really enjoy about being here.”

Emma Huberty, senior, is taking a holistic approach this soccer season, with a big focus on team dynamics and bonding. Huberty began her career playing center back. “It felt like I was kind of born into it, and then I never stopped,” Huberty said. “I kind of started playing center back, and then I got bored of it. I wanted to touch the ball more, so I started playing in the midfield, then I played center mid and holding mid.” 

Currently, Huberty’s returned to her original position as a center-back.

“We have a lot of really talented center and holding mids on this team, and so I’m back to my original position,” Huberty said.  

“I’ve definitely been on a few teams where I kind of felt like an outsider, but I’m really happy with our team this year,” Huberty said. “Team bonding is anytime when you’re around your team, whether that be practice, games, film sessions, and I feel like the whole season is a great bonding experience. You go through brutal weeks of conditioning camps and tryouts, and then you get your celebration of making the team.”

As an upperclassman, Huberty is looking forward to being a role model for the underclassmen. This year, Huberty hopes to win state.

“We’ve been really close in the past few years [to winning state], and I think we have a good shot,” Huberty said. 

Huberty has been playing soccer since she was four, joining both club and recreational teams.

Along with playing for the Oregon Premier Football Club (OPFC) Girls Academy 0607 team, Huberty has been playing on JV for the last three years and has been captain for two years, this being her first year on varsity. Both teams have affected her soccer experience and outlook.

“Even on varsity, stay confident in yourself and stay determined, because I feel your confidence really comes out on the field, that shows.” Huberty said. “Where your touch may fail, if you’re confident and you’re aggressive to get to the ball, that is just another huge factor in the game.” 

Huberty aims to bring positivity and pride to her team and to the field.

 “I will always be the person who’s positive, who’s always rooting for other people. I will be the one who’s always singing and dancing,” Huberty said. “It’s a strong sense of pride, because you’ve worked to be here and you’re playing with some of the best girls that are out there”

Although she has a passion for the sport, Huberty’s intends to balance both soccer and academics.

“Ultimately, I think I will want to play [soccer in] college at some level, whether it be club or D3, I’m just gonna see what opportunities end up being available to me,” Huberty said. “I just want to be able to keep playing and have fun and not have it be my whole life.”

Josie Matthews, junior, is a first-year varsity player after swinging from JV last year. Matthews plays wing, back, and sometimes forward. She began playing soccer at five years old after being inspired by her grandfather.

“My grandpa was the coach, so he really got me into it,” Matthews said. “He really wanted all the kids in my family to do it, and I stuck with it.” 

Outside of the school team, Matthews can be found on the field playing for the Oregon Premier Football Club (OPFC). 

“I’ve been with relatively the same group for years on my club team so it’s easier to know how each other plays,” Matthews said. “It’s easier to get chemistry, but I think we’re getting more into that [on the school team] as we play with each other more.”

In her soccer career, Matthews has had to deal with different injuries.

“I’ve gotten injured a lot, I’ve sprained each of my ankles three times each, and I had problems with my knees for a really long time,” Matthews said. “I feel like I’m always coming in and out of injury and it makes me frustrated, but I didn’t really want to stop. I don’t want to stop.”

Looking back at the season so far and what’s to come, Matthews enjoyed playing against the Wilsonville team.

“I was looking forward to the game against Wilsonville because we really wanted to redeem ourselves from last year,” Matthews said, “Other than that, there’s not a specific team I’m excited to play. I just want to bond with the team.”

Starting her soccer career at five years old, Kali Daniels, junior, is a seasoned athlete when it comes to the sport. Daniels’ parents were her motivation to join soccer at a young age. 

“I think it’s just a sport everybody plays when they’re little, and my parents wanted me to get into it,” Daniels said. “It was because I started so young that I just continued playing and I really liked it.”

Although Daniels has been playing the sport for the majority of her life, her position on the field has changed over time. 

“[On varsity] I usually play left center back, but normally I’m an outside or like a full back,” Daniels said. “The transition has been pretty good, I’m pretty used to playing defense and a left center back is kind of like you’re playing an outside back sometimes, so it’s not too hard.”

This is Daniels’ first year on the varsity team. During Daniels’ sophomore season, she obtained an injury in her leg causing her to miss both the soccer and basketball seasons during a 10-month span. 

“Last year I was injured and had tendinopathy in both my knees, and then I also tore my patellar tendon,” Daniels said. “Getting injured last year was a very big obstacle for me. The recovery was a lot longer than expected so that was very difficult, and just all the physical therapy to come back from that was a lot to work with.”

Looking forward to the remainder of the season, Daniels has a few goals set in hopes for her personal success.

“I think my goals are to get as much playing time as I can,” Daniels said. “Just get that experience, and work better on my touch and see the field better.”

Starting soccer in kindergarten, Kylee Schreck, junior, has been determined to be as good of a soccer player as she can be.

“My older sister played soccer [and] seeing her on the field kind of just pushed me into the soccer game in general,” Schreck said. “She’s a huge influence on me.”

Since the age of five Schreck has loved playing soccer, but it got difficult once she started competitively.

“When I started playing club, which was in fifth grade, there was a rule where if you were on the team for a long period of time you would have to be on the ‘A’ team,” Schreck said. “My first year playing for club I got put on the classic ‘B’ team, and after that year I just didn’t really want to play anymore because of that.” 

Schreck says leadership is a big part of soccer, and tries to improve in that category as much as she can.

“My freshman year, I was new to the team, and the juniors and seniors played a big part in bonding and they were really big role models for me off and on the field,” Schreck said. “They know what it’s like to play in a big game, and you just have to trust them. This year, that’s what I’m gonna try to do.”

Schreck has seen soccer impact her life in different ways, on and off the field.

“Soccer has helped me in every way possible. But I think the thing that has made me smile the most about the game is the relationships you build while playing soccer,” Schreck said. “Going out on the field and playing with some of your best friends is a feeling that is amazing.”

Caitlyn Shreck, junior, is an established player on the soccer team, and helped her team in state as a freshman.

“[One of my best memories was] winning against Jesuit. I think that was probably one of the best moments, and probably going to state my freshman year,” Shreck said.

 Soccer has been a part of her life since she was young, and has been playing since she was in elementary school. 

“I’ve played it since kindergarten,” Shreck said. “My parents got me into it, I just always loved running around the field.”

But even beyond her parents introducing her to the game, soccer is a family affair.

“I have two siblings,” Shreck said. “My sister, she’s [my] twin, she goes here, and then my oldest sister used to play.”

Although she admits it has been difficult, Schreck has been playing for a long time.

“[A challenge has been] how to start new and stuff, and how to show to like, show my coach that I wanted to start and get playing time to and just like, prove myself. So I think that’s really important,” Shreck said.

Shreck is thinking about continuing the sport after graduation at the collegiate level.

“I have some colleges like reaching out to me and stuff, but just time will tell, so I’ll see,” Schreck said.