Lincoln High School Athletic Department

The winning formula for the No. 4 Lincoln Cardinals was clear. 

The Cardinals were dominant in their set pieces against No. 14 West Salem, just as they were in a semifinal win over No. 1 McMinnville, giving Lincoln a 2-0 victory in the Class 6A boys soccer state final Saturday at Hillsboro Stadium.

"You can win or lose games on set pieces," said Lincoln coach Facundo Dipascuale. "When it came down to set pieces, we took care of the details."

Lincoln netted a corner-kick goal and a free-kick goal to down McMinnville 2-1 in the semifinals, and the Cardinals struck again in the same way early against the Titans. Lincoln junior Carson Graham delivered a corner kick less than three minutes into the match, bending the cross sharply enough to tuck the ball into the far corner of the net off the outstretched hands of goalkeeper Marcos Ochoa. 

"I put as much curve on it as I could, and I thought the wind would play some sort of factor," Graham said of his goal. "I was surprised, I didn't mean to, but it came out as a good result."

The early 1-0 lead would hold through halftime, as the Cardinals dominated possession through the first 40 minutes. Lincoln would attack again early in the second half, when a cross from the right side found the head of senior Ben Hardy in the box, and Hardy redirected the ball into the net for a 2-0 lead.

That would prove to be more than enough for Lincoln's defense, which held West Salem without a shot on goal the entire game. The Titans finished with four total shot attempts.

When Lincoln took the two-goal lead in the second half, it was the first time in their entire playoff slate that the Cardinals had led by more than one goal. Each of their previous four playoff games were won by one goal, including a first-round victory over Aloha that was decided by penalty kicks and an overtime win over Barlow in the quarterfinals.

Lincoln finished with 10 shots, five of them on goal, against West Salem. Although senior goalkeeper Cameron Bennett was not challenged much, he ensured the ninth clean sheet for Lincoln this season.

Lincoln is the lowest seed to win a 6A soccer state championship in the current bracket format, which dates to 2011. Previously, the 6A bracket had four divisions of teams ranked Nos. 1-8. 

--Pete Christopher
(503)294-4103
@PeteChristopher