Berkshire enters the 2024 season with seven returning starters and the goal of winning a fourth straight Chagrin Valley Conference title.
The Badgers, who also return five other letter winners, moved back into the Valley Division along with Cardinal, Crestwood, Harvey, Jefferson, and Kirtland.
“Heading into 2024, I see a ton of potential for this group, especially with the seniors that graduated being such monumental pieces of the program for the last four years,” said seventh-year head coach Ian Patterson. “There is a lot of opportunity for this group. I expect this group to stay hungry to try and compete for the fourth straight CVC title and learn from our tough regular season schedule before heading into a brand new Division V postseason tournament.”
Berkshire’s success hinges on the Badgers minimizing the graduation losses of 2023 CVC MVP Evania McCandless and four-year goalkeeper Sarah Wendl, among others.
Patterson is confident he has the players necessary to fill those cleats and to contribute on a daily basis.
“The obvious holes we have in the lineup would be losing Evania McCandless up top and Sarah Wendl as our goalkeeper who were both common names in the weekly box scores for the last four years,” Patterson said. “Some of the less obvious to the public, but very obvious to us, losses would include Madison Durosko in the attack, and Alyssa Lawson who is now our single-season assist record holder with 21 last season. Losing such experienced players creates a lot of question marks in the lineup during the offseason, however, they, along with others before them, have helped leave a legacy that keeps inspiring younger girls to want to play, want to win, and they want to do it now. Players such as Emma Rucinski, Kylie Swiantek, Marissa Karl, Sarah Romask, and Sora Sigler make up our incoming freshman class and they have been waiting eagerly for their turn to be on the field. I think it’s safe to say at least a couple of them will make the starting lineup this season for our debut against Wickliffe.”
Patterson will lean on his veterans to help those younger players find their way.
Junior Kelly McCandless returns at forward after scoring 18 goals with 14 assists last season. She earned first-team All-CVC and first-team All-Greater Cleveland honors.
“Kelly has climbed her way into the top five assist leaders in program history in her first two seasons with us and looks to take over the attacking role her sister leaves open in the lineup from last season,” Patterson said. “After a great flag football season and summer of club soccer, Kelly is in great shape to lead the attack for the Badgers this fall.”
Senior midfielder Mary Lee notched two goals with one assist last fall on her way to earning second-team All-CVC honors.
“Mary had a dominating flag football season this spring helping lead the Badgers to a second-place league finish,” Patterson said. “She had a great soccer season last year owning the midfield as a defensive center mid. She has a monster leg and is a threat to score the ball anywhere inside midfield. She is also a great target for us on set pieces.”
Sophomore defender Ivy Martin will play a key role for the Badgers in the back end. She earned second-team All-CVC honors as a freshman.
“Ivy is one of those players that will never talk trash or brag about her abilities, she simply lets her play do the talking,” Patterson said. “Whether its scoring 15-plus points in the fourth quarter to lead a playoff comeback (in basketball) or tracking down an open striker and stuffing the play before she takes a shot on net, Ivy gives 120 percent while she is on the field and court and is the definition of ‘lead by example.’”
With so many younger players in the lineup, Patterson expects some growing pains. But, if the Badgers focus on the fundamentals and make the necessary adjustments throughout the season, their ceiling remains high.
“We heavily lean on watching film to learn from our mistakes and maximize our strengths as the season goes on, and not only learn from our players’ mistakes but also our coaching mistakes,” Patterson said. “We are constantly evaluating our performance and trying to critique it as a whole and it starts with the coaches, if we can hold each other accountable the girls will too. Coming into a season we usually have a few pretty big question marks in the lineup, we aren’t sure what formation is best for our group to have success, we aren’t sure what to expect, etc. However, once we get about halfway through September, into October, we’ve usually found our stride and we know how we want to play and that’s what the season is all about. Learn from the tough schedule early on, take the wins and losses as they come, watch film, evaluate our mistakes, and try our best not to repeat them all season. Hopefully, somewhere in there, we have competed for a CVC championship the best we could but that has been our mentality the last few seasons and it has paid off.”
Patterson continues to preach to his squad the importance of trusting the system and believing in the process.
“To be successful this season, our team needs to lean on teams of the past and remember what we have done before because when we put the work in, we get the results we want,” he said. “We also need to remember that it’s not always about the outcome of winning or losing but more about the process and enjoying the ups and downs as they come because this season like any other, will be over before we know it.”
