For the first time in Mountainside history, every fall sport made it to the playoffs. These sports include the football team, both male and female soccer teams, both male and female cross country teams, the volleyball team, and the women’s water polo team. 

Football

“I always believed in our team.” said senior Zac Brown who is currently the tight end on the Varsity football team. The football team had a rough start by losing three games in a row in the beginning of the season, “It’s not the start we wanted,” said the starting senior quarterback Brian Mannion, but after the Tigard game they, “had to sit down and talk about what they weren’t doing right,” said senior Cooper Johnson. And it worked. The team won the following 5 games and made it to the playoffs. However, they ended the season with a loss against Central Catholic. 

Men’s Soccer

At the beginning of the season, the men’s soccer team started off with a tough loss and they didn’t think that they would make it to the playoffs. Once their starters played to their full potential, though, the wins started to come in. Mahad Malik, who is a senior and also on the men’s Varsity soccer team said, “I felt the season was an extreme step up from this program’s beginning. I’m very proud of the lads and the coaching staff for giving it their all and how we’ve evolved as a whole throughout the season.” 

“I’ve been on varsity for 4 years,” said senior Ryan Mehlschau, “This was my best season yet. We were more successful in every area than in previous years.”

Their drive and dedication proved to be fruitful. Not once did they see a single athlete not play their hearts out which is what led them to the playoffs. The Varsity men’s soccer team had nine clean wins, scored big in very critical games, and finished 10th in the state.

The team has five Allstate metro players.

Women’s Soccer

The girls soccer team started off their season strong with a win against Franklin 5-2. “I had a great feeling about this team… I knew that we had what it took to be a big competitor in [the] playoffs,” said senior Emma Rogers.

Senior Sierra Nees said, “I was really happy with our season this year. A majority of players were new and we had to learn how to play together, but we figured it out by the end of the season…” The girls ended up with a record of nine wins, five ties and two losses which put they ended up in the 11th seed after losing to Oregon City 0-1

Cross Country

This year the cross country team made it to state for the first time ever. “This was a seriously important development season for us,” said junior Mario Oblad. The team began to progressively improve together. “We had the goal of making it to state for the first time and it turned out well,” continued Oblad. Even though the team didn’t end up winning at state, this was seen as more of a development opportunity and a way to gain experience for the up and coming cross country program. 

Women’s Volleyball

The volleyball team also had a very successful season making it to the second round of playoffs. “We’ve found our rhythm and we’ve played better than we ever have before,” said senior Kendel Redding. The volleyball team went 14-11 and was the 15th seed in the playoffs. After winning the first game at home the team traveled to Bend but could not pull out the win on the road. They ended the season ranking 15th in state. 

Women’s Waterpolo

Lastly, the women’s water polo team. “Finishing 2nd in state was a huge accomplishment for the team and the school as a whole,” said senior Anna Hoppenrath who plays on the girls water polo team. Their successful season led them to the semi-finals, where they competed against Barlow to determine the best team in the state. They ended up losing to Barlow but in the end won the second place title. “A lot of us haven’t played since 2019,” said Hoppenrath. This season was so successful because their coaches and teammates made it a fun and welcoming environment that helped them work better as a team, and improve during practices and the whole season.

 Looking Ahead 

“The fall season was very exciting to see all of our teams make it to state which I’ve never seen before,” said athletic director Brian Sorenson. “Going into the winter season I think we all have high hopes of having some success with the boys and girls basketball, wrestling and swimming all looking to have solid teams this winter. Hopefully we have the same successful season fall did.”