As they approach the middle of their season, the Berlin girls’ soccer team is already showing signs of growth, strong leadership, and early success, especially after a key rivalry win against Ripon on April 16. Head Coach Lindsey Rost describes the start of the season as highly positive, pointing to both energy and work ethic.
“It’s been a transformative year in the best way possible,” Rost said.
She added that the team has shown strong effort and a desire to improve every day and emphasized that much of the early focus has been on fundamentals, as the team adjusts to a mix of experienced and new players.
“I can’t necessarily teach you discipline or work ethic. That comes from you, but the foundations are super easy,” Rost said.
One of the newer players is freshman Bianca Sandoval, who returned to soccer after several years away from the sport.
“I have always liked soccer and wanted to play, and my siblings play too,” Sandoval said.
She noted that adjusting to high school athletics has not been easy, especially balancing schoolwork and sports.
“I look forward to improving in soccer, but the hardest thing is keeping my grades up,” Sandoval said.
Even so, Sandoval said she is learning quickly from her teammates, especially as an incoming freshman.
“I’ve learned it is really, really okay to make mistakes,” Sandoval said.
Leadership has also played a major role this season for senior captain Taylor Helmuth, who has stepped into a more vocal role on the team.
“It means so much to me. I love that I lead the team and am someone to look up to on the field,” Helmuth said.
She also reflected on how her role has changed over time, moving from a less involved freshman to a key leader.
“Now, being a senior, I feel very important and noticed in games and practice, I’m going to miss the actual game itself. Soccer has been my favorite sport since I started, and I’m going to miss playing in the game and having that adrenaline. I’m also going to miss the group of people I get to play with,” Helmuth said.
As the season continues, attention has turned to the team’s rivalry matchup against Ripon, a game Helmuth described as both intense and meaningful after last year’s loss.
“The Ripon game was very exciting and scary. As a team, we had something to prove after losing to them last year. Our team and Ripon are very evenly matched, so it was exciting to get that win,” Helmuth said.
Rost really gets into the Ripon rivalry game and puts on her game face, along with the rest of the team.
“If you want to win this game, you gotta act like you want to win this game. They went out in the second half, and they did just that. So good,” Rost said.
With early games setting the tone, the team now looks ahead to building momentum through the rest of the season.
“These girls get me through my school year. Sometimes school gets really hard towards the end of the year. In the spring, I can go out to practice and just let everything loose, and they’re non-judgmental. They’re caring, they’re kind, they’re respectful, and I’m super proud of them, and I’m super grateful for them,” Rost said.
Berlin girls’ soccer has its next game away, on April 28, against Amherst High School.
