Playing their third game of the season, the Unified soccer team hosted Wilsonville High School on Oct. 7 for a match, the game ending with a score of 10—8, with the Wildcats as the victors.
Starting Unified Sports in middle school during COVID-19, Henry Weisenee, junior, has been a partner in the program for five years. While in his third season on the soccer team, this is Weisensee’s first time playing without his older brother, Owen Weisensee.
“I supported my brother in middle school, and he just graduated last year. So, I’m finding ways to support the team without him, which is interesting because I’m used to having him right beside me,” Weisensee said. “I’m his partner, and we take off and do whatever. But I’m finding my groove alone, just supporting the team all in all.”
This was Weisensee’s first official game of the season, and he found it to be especially well-spirited.
“This is only my second game. I did the opening night scrimmage with the varsity players from the [mens] and [womens] soccer teams,” Weisensee said. “But it’s so far been really fun. Tonight’s game was really high energy.”
As his first Unified event of the season was a scrimmage with other athletes from the school, Weisenee believes it to be one of his favorite moments from the season thus far.
“It’s always really cool that Unified incorporates the varsity athletes, not just partners,” Weisenee said. “It shows that there are the partner athletes who may or may not play soccer, but there’s also varsity athletes who show that they care as well.”
Dr. Ryan Jordan, psychology teacher, has been coaching within the Unified program for five years, and he also found one particular moment in the opening game to be a highlight for the team.
“My favorite memory from this season so far was our first game here at West Linn,” Jordan said. “There is an amazing corner kick that Timothy [Lee] took, and it was a perfect pass right to Joanna [Landazuri], who kicked it into the goal. Just one of those times where you think they are actually paying attention to us when we talk to them about passing, and they did, because it was phenomenal. They did a great job.”
Similarly, two-year unified partner Timothy Lee, sophomore, was involved in the corner kick and remembers it vividly as a good memory from the season.
“Our first game was against Lake Oswego. I got a corner kick, and it was after I just scored a tap-in. Afterwards, we were awarded a corner, and I sent a great ball in and Johanna [Landazuri] back-heeled it into the goal,” Lee said. “It was amazing to watch.”
As a coach, Jordan directly experiences the positive atmosphere of Unified Sports.
“[My favorite thing is] just how much fun we have,” Jordan said. “How much they love being out there, how much they don’t care that we yell at them to run faster all the time. No one gets grumpy about that, and we play together as a team. We have lots of fun. What more can you want from the sport?”
Watching the game from the sideline was the varsity football team, and among them was Jaydon Puni, junior. Puni moved from Australia two years ago and has witnessed, through both watching Unified Sports and participating in the class firsthand, the impact it can have on the student body.
“They actually didn’t have any Unified Sports [in Australia], which was surprising to me. When I came [to West Linn], I did [the] Unified Sports class last year, and it was really cool,” Puni said. “Seeing that they had a place to mingle and have fun with peer mentors was really cool to see.”
With multiple teams reserving the main field for the day, the players on the football team were surprised to see the Unified Soccer team on the turf during their normal practice time. Instead of warming up somewhere else, the team decided to stay and support.
“We were putting our stuff on in the locker room and then we walked out the door, going up to the field, and we weren’t actually expecting anyone to be there, but we looked up and saw Unified Soccer going on,” Puni said. “I was actually really happy to see them. [The athletes] were enjoying themselves, and there were so many smiles. It was awesome. Me and the boys were just so happy to see them having fun, and we wanted to join in on the fun.”
The Unified team will play again next week versus Tigard High School on Oct. 14, where Jordan has hope for a quality game.
“We gave 110% out there. You know what? It’s all about the X’s and O’s. We’ll get it down, we’ll focus, we’ll game plan, watch a lot of film, and come out next week against Tigard. They’re a good team, but I think we have what it takes,” Jordan said.
This story was originally published on wlhsNOW on October 9, 2025.