Berkley Soccer Runs Wild Over Ferndale 3-0

The girls varsity soccer team just plain outran Ferndale on Monday night.

In a 3-0 win, the Bears' speed gave their Oakland Activities Association rival problems all night. The Eagles could never find an answer to Berkley’s quickness.

“We couldn’t figure out how to get the ball forward to save our life,” Ferndale coach Steven Motter said. “Berkley’s the first team we’ve played that had any kind of pass whatsoever; everybody else, we’ve been the faster and more athletic team. They just took it to us.”

Berkley's Katie Murphy scored two goals in the first 10 minutes, and Stephanie Miller scored an insurance goal in the second half, but the Bears (5-6-1) easily could have scored four or five more.

Berkley coach Cliff Brandmier said he would have liked his team to convert those solid scoring chances into goals.

“A lot of teams struggle with our pace up top," Brandmier said. "But, as you could see, we struggled with putting the ball in the back of the net.”

The Bears missed a handful of open net shots with kicks that were either too strong or not strong enough. Poorly timed passes also prevented a couple of solid scoring changes from getting past Ferndale’s keeper.

“I think communication, at the end of the day, is what they need to really focus on," Brandmier said. "They need more trust with each other.

"Moving forward, that’s something we’ll work on,” he said. “We haven’t done a ton of finishing drills, but that’s something we'll work on more this week.”

Ferndale (8-5-1) played for much of the game without its top player, Lexie Brisson-Fast. She missed all of last week with an ankle injury, and the junior still was dealing with its effects Monday.

Motter pulled her from the game in the second half, and without a deep bench, the Eagles missed her on the field.

Berkley also coped with an injury during the game. Starting goalie Julie Shields tweaked her ankle during the first half and came out of the game. The junior tested the ankle during halftime but didn’t return.

With a 2-0 lead, Brandmier said he didn’t want to push her.

“We probably could’ve brought her back in, but she wouldn’t have been very mobile,” Brandmier said. “If we were down, we probably would’ve (put her back in)." 

Berkley just has one more match this week, and it’s a home game at 7 p.m. Friday against Troy.

“They are unbelievable, very strong, very good,” Brandmier said. “They are just a very technical team, and that’s something we struggle with as a team.”