The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Berkshire finishes regular season 16-0
MANTUA » In the final minutes Oct. 9 of Berkshire’s nonconference match at Crestwood, fog lingered over the pitch. It was reminiscent of the backdrop for a dream scenario.
For the Badgers, three years removed from being a three-win side, it was fitting — only this wasn’t a dream.
From fog to fulfillment, this was happening for real.
Berkshire got five goals from Julia Frank and dominated the host Red Devils, 8-0, to cap a 16-0 regular season. At the stadium named in honor of Crestwood graduate and Steelers Hall of Fame linebacker Jack Lambert, the Badgers were as unforgiving as Lambert would have been to a wide receiver who dared to run a slant his way.
“You know where Berkshire was three years ago,” Coach Rick Nerone said. “This is just absolutely amazing — just a lot of hard work. A lot of these teams are more skilled than us, but no one will outwork us. And these seniors are paving the road — we’re going to have years and years.
“We are not going to be a flash in the pan. We’re going to be a force to be reckoned with in this postseason and in the following years. We should be on the radar now.”
It is believed to be the first unbeaten regular season in a girls sport in school history. To add further context, Berkshire has had one unbeaten and untied regular season in one if its signature sports, football — its 1975 squad went 9-0 en route to the first gridiron playoff berth in News-Herald coverage area history.
So the Badgers could be forgiven if the final Monday of this particular regular season had a little more significance than usual.
“Well, it’s definitely been a painful process,” senior goalkeeper Cat Lillibridge said with a laugh. “I never thought we would make it to 16-0 my senior year, honestly. I never thought that Rick would push us this hard and give us our first CVC title and everything. It’s amazing.”
Lillibridge has had a unique perspective for it. As a freshman, she was an outside midfielder and backup goalie with only rec experience in the latter.
This fall, she has 48 saves and six clean sheets, becoming a solid and trusted performer in the defensive third and one of the area’s better goalkeepers.
“I had some experience, but coming in sophomore year, I was ready to go honestly,” Lillibridge said. “I was taking private lessons. I was playing as hard as I could. I was still learning, though.
“It was a long process, honestly, to get this far.” For everyone involved. With programs around a decade old as the Badgers are, much of their existence is typically defined as a kickball side — constant service over the top hoping a striker will latch on. With a talented underclassman attack with Frank and standout sophomore striker Lexi Boyk, among many more, Berkshire is bolting from that mode.
Against Crestwood, for example, the Badgers broke a high offside trap with multiple touches through midfield and pace. On its opener in the 11th minute, senior Amber Taraska was sprung wide right and played a touch back for Frank, who slotted a lovely left-footed bender high.
“Oh, it has taken forever,” senior defender Asya Martin said. “Our freshman year, every time I got the ball, I kicked it long. I was like, ‘Oh, we’re going for the goal.’ But this year, we started practices mid-May. We were ready to go. We were practicing. We were doing private camps with Hiram and Notre Dame, and we worked on technical things and passing the ball and more of a connection. We want to have a connection between our passes — that’s what we have created.
“We know where our teammates are going.”
In a combination play sense — and as a program — they know: From fog to fulfillment, and a 16-0 regular season they’ll treasure.
“Catherine and I have been playing together since we were 3,” Martin said. “I just feel like we’ve all had a connection so long that bringing it together this year has just been the greatest experience of our lives.”