Lincoln girls soccer leaves it all on the field during Senior Night

In a roller coaster of a season, the Lincoln High School girls soccer team's seniors began what they hoped will become a new tradition for years to come. At the end of last Thursday's Senior Night, a 9-0 win over Rio Linda, the six Lady Zebra seniors took off their cleats and left them at midfield, somewhat symbolic of the seniors leaving everything on the field. Lincoln's juniors then went to retrieve them. "It represents us passing the torch down to the juniors who will be seniors next year," senior captain Alyssa Najarro said. "It was the start of a new tradition." The 2020-21 season was one of the most unconventional for the Lady Zebras. The team had to quarantine due to COVID-19 complications before any games could be played. "We definitely didn't start off on the right foot," Lincoln head coach David Zinzun said. "But coming back, the girls built up a fire and had a goal to compete and finish strong with whatever time period they had left." Lincoln has certainly performed when on the field this season. The Lady Zebras are 7-2-1 after Tuesday's 4-0 win against Lindhurst, which extended Lincoln's win streak to five. The team's six Foothill Valley League wins have already matched last year's league total with two more games to go and are currently the most wins among FVL competition. "For us to be coming off this hot, I was quite impressed," said Zinzun, who returned to the Lincoln girls varsity team after coaching the boys JV team for two seasons. Zinzun, a Lincoln alum, had previously coached the girls varsity program from 2014-18. "The girls had to make some changes to adapt to my style of play," Zinzun said. "I'm about development, structure and discipline, but there's been no issue with the girls making adjustments to my style of play. The girls were ready to make a change and we're happy with everything that's happened throughout the season." During last Thursday's Senior Night win, Najarro led the scoring with a hat trick, adding to her team-leading seven goals for the season. Four of the remaining five seniors also netted goals for Lincoln, including two from Alexia Jaimes and one apiece from Hallie Braasch, Savannah Freebury, Jessica Lopez and sophomore Avery Aronsen. "We're just going out and trying to complete our year with as many wins as possible," Najarro said. "Working as a team and getting into that mindset of getting out there and going hard and giving it all we've got." Junior Peyton Derepentigny has six goals this season, including a hat trick against Nevada Union, and freshman Chloe Van Winkle has seven. Junior Megan Handl has ensured that all seven of Lincoln's wins have been shutouts. She has played between the posts in every minute of Lincoln's games this season. "We're gonna be fairly young (next season), but Lincoln has a solid future ahead if everyone stays healthy and everything goes back to normal," Zinzun said. "I'm looking forward to the next few years to compete with this program." While Lincoln may have a bright future, last Thursday was all about the present. Seniors Ellie Kotecki and Gwen Quiroz, who have missed the entire season with injuries, were also honored during Senior Night along with Najarro, Jaimes, Freebury, Braasch, Lopez and Skyler Raper. "For me, I'm all about completing whatever I start, and Senior Night was the ability to close a chapter of my life," Raper said. "When I go off to school next year, I won't be continuing playing soccer, so this was a way to celebrate all the years we've played. And for all the seniors, it was a huge win after the whole year got wiped out."