The heart rate ticks up a little more for the Berkshire girls side when Kirtland is on the opposite touchline. For much of the second 40 on Sept. 19, the Badgers found themselves on the back foot in the defensive third against a hard-charging and fit Hornets’ side. Fortunately for Berkshire, it had two key neutralizers: The continued presence of a McCandless lethal left foot, not to mention mettle in multitude. In all, the Badgers emerged from this trip up to the heart of Lake County with a result that showed a ton of heart. Kelly McCandless’ strike with 54 seconds remaining bagged a dramatic 2-1 win at Kirtland. After a 10-year stretch up to the 2020 pandemic campaign during which the Hornets claimed all 10 meetings in the series by a combined score of 52-3, Berkshire has turned the tables a bit, on a 3-1-1 stretch with three straight regular-season victories over a longtime foe. Berkshire senior midfielder Mary Lee discusses her side's 2-1 win at KirtlandHad a really nice ball to assist on Kelly McCandless' opener & brought some physical presence to the middle of the park pic.twitter.com/hbn29Gjgyh — Chris Lillstrung (@CLillstrungNH) September 20, 2024 One by one postmatch, Berkshire coach Ian Patterson delivered a low-five to each member of his side amid their cooldown with perhaps increased emphasis than usual. He wanted the Badgers to dig deep, and dig they did. “We’re finally seeming to put it together,” Patterson said. “That was a solid 80 for us. We possessed the ball really well. We linked sideline to sideline. We didn’t really try and force the ball into bad areas, and we did at times got a little carried away trying to force the ball forward. “But overall, I think we did a good job of finding space and trying to play out of it and kind of just taking what the defense gave us. Not trying to force the ball to Kelly. Not trying to force it to anyone. But just take what they give us, and see if that worked for us, which it did in the end.” That fortitude was punctuated by trademark left-footed brilliance from McCandless, much like sister Evania had before her. Facing direct marking for much of the second 40, the prolific junior striker collected a throw-in and embarked on a weaving run. The objective was simple: Get enough daylight to take a crack with her lethal left. With a clever switch touch, mission accomplished. McCandless got her daylight and slotted a lovely lefty finish side net inside the left post for her 14th goal of 2024. FT: Berkshire 2, Kirtland 1Kelly McCandless bags the match winner with 54 seconds left pic.twitter.com/38SRT3QFhV — Chris Lillstrung (@CLillstrungNH) September 20, 2024 “I got the ball off of Alie (Ruchalski), and I had a good first touch,” McCandless said. “I just had to do the move I always do, around the defender. And then I was like, ‘Man, I have to make this.’ “Oh, I’m so proud. We worked hard the entire 80 minutes. It’s something we’ve been focusing on, putting effort into every minute of the game.” The Badgers (5-3-2) had generated six shots on target in the opening 40 but were having a tough time matching that quality after halftime. McCandless solved that issue rapidly. “Everything I do with my right, I do it with my left until it’s as good,” McCandless said. Berkshire had taken a 1-0 lead to the break. In the fourth minute, Mary Lee served a pacey skip ball for McCandless down the left flank. McCandless took it from there with a low-90 tapper. The Hornets (6-4-1) responded with an encouraging second 40, featuring width, diagonal service and intent, particularly laudable after an 8-1 loss at Chagrin Falls on Sept. 16. It took some time, but it led to an equalizer. Freshman Olivia Pickens, moved into midfield, did well with a strike high from the middle of the box, the first goal of her high school career, to level the proceedings, 1-1. Kirtland coach Josh Sladick was proud of his side for nearly getting this result home. He was effusive with praise for Isabel Mueller and Kylie Sayle in makeshift defensive-third roles on the night, as well as Marin Haupt as a marker, and overall for his side showing a ton of fight after a rough result. “Whenever we suffer a loss of that caliber (like Chagrin), we always find a way to rebound and do really well in the next game,” Sladick said. “I asked a lot of Marin Haupt to be able to just man-mark (McCandless) for all 40 minutes. And she played fantastic. She did exactly what we needed her to do. Kelly was still effective, but not as effective. Our backline, we had an injury happen at the end of that first half. So we had Isabel Mueller step back there. She is not a center back. She doesn’t pretend to be a center back. But she, as a senior, stepped up and did really well.” The Badgers were on their back foot — then some magic from a trademark and lethal left foot made it worthwhile. “The confidence has really been coming around in the last two weeks,” Patterson said. “We’re really starting to find our stride. Something like this, late in a game where we battled hard all night and played hard. We had some adversity. We gave up the equalizer, and we came back and we found a way to do it. So I always tell them, ‘Good teams find ways to win games.’ And that’s what we did tonight.”