The 2015 fall sports season saw the most participants in school history with over 500 eager athletes. Lincoln athletes broke records, achieved the highest combined GPA in school history and displayed their dominance over Oregon high school athletics once again. From rugby to cross country, student athletes brought it to every match. Fans flocked the stands clad in red, white and black the whole season, rain or shine, showing Cardinal pride.

          Soccer

The boy’s soccer team had a season for the history books: a state championship and an overall record. They ended the season with a groundbreaking win against undefeated No. 1  seed McMinnville in the semi-finals.

Lincoln kept the ball rolling to defeat West Salem in the state championship, 2-0, to take Lincoln’s first-ever state soccer title. Cheers of “I believe that we just won” rung through the stadium as senior Gabe Barnatan and his fellow players jumped into the stands.

“The best part of winning state was how we did it as a team and how everyone contributed,” said junior goalkeeper Wyland Espinosa. “Whether it was 6 a.m. practice or the state championship, everyone was giving their all.”

On the girls side, the team ended up with a 8-4-4 overall record and 4-1-2 in league play. They were not as fortunate in the state playoffs as the boys were, losing to No. 1 seed Jesuit in the second round. The team, however, was young after 14 seniors graduated last June.

“It was kind of a building year,” said junior defender Sarah Nasson. “We proved that we could beat teams like Sunset and Central Catholic, which makes me really optimistic for next season.”

           Football

On the football field, the Cards had a successful season winning the PIL and and placing seventh in state. Despite injuries to junior Cosimo Gaudio and seniors Jakob Kock and Garrett Cheadle,and  having to replace sophomore kicker Ben Pahl mid-season, the Cards still made in the playoffs. A 28-0 win over Newburg in the first playoff set the tone. In the second round, the team crushed Grants Pass 42-14, a huge victory for the team. The season ended in the quarterfinals when the team met their match with No. 2 Sherwood, losing 16-0.

          Rowing

The rowing team had a very successful fall season, according to coach Nick Haley. “We made a huge improvement over the course of the season,” Haley said. The men’s varsity boat and second varsity boat placed second in the Northwest with times of 16:13 and 16:51 over 5,000 meters.  

On the girls side, the varsity boat placed fourth with a time of 11:23 over 3’,000 meters; the second varsity boat placed third with a time 12:09. The novice mens boat placed sixth with a time of 12:09 and the novice girls boat placed fifth with a time of 11:03.

“I was happy with how the team rowed throughout the season,” said varsity six seat, Paolo Bifulco, a junior.

         Water Polo

In the pool, the men’s water polo team finished with an overall 15-8-1 record and a 4-3-1 record in league play. The team finished third in the metro water polo standings and sixth in the state playoffs.

“We had a really good season,” said junior Giovanni Zumbo. “We worked hard all the way to the end of the season.”

On the girls side, the team went 19-7 overall and worked for an astounding undefeated season in league play. The team ended up placing first in the metro league beating the likes of Westview, Southridge and Beaverton. They ended up placing fourth in state.

“The season went really well considering we had so many new players,” said senior Emma Limbocker. “At the beginning of the season, I didn’t think we would go to state, but we ended up doing much better than expected.”

Volleyball

On the volleyball court, the Lady Cards had an overall 14-8 record, 13-3 in league play. They took third in the PIL and went into the state playoff ranked 20th.

“Our team was super cohesive and we all had fun playing together,” said junior Haley Schulberg. They ended up losing to 13-seed Southridge 0-3 in the first round.

“We really accomplished our team goals and put our all into every game,” said junior Brianna Hill.

The team ended up with an overall OSAA ranking of 21.

“One of my favorite memories from the season was beating grant,” Schulberg said. “Those games are always really fun and exciting.”

Cross Country

          Both the boys and girls saw massive improvement in their performances this season. At the state championships, the varsity girls took fifth overall with top finishes by Kyla Becker, Annika Steele and Mary Skakel finishing 17, 26 and 32 respectively. The boys took second in state with Ransom Gravatt, Pierce Miller and Dominic Arce finishing 18,19 and 20.