Rosenthal going out with burst
WARRIOR ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Jennifer Beilke and Danielle Uphoff were two of the most gifted offensive players in Brainerd Warrior girls' soccer history.
Beilke graduated as the leading scorer in program history with 56 points. Uphoff was right behind her with 54.
That was before Kelly Rosenthal burst on the scene. In her fifth and final varsity season Rosenthal already has surpassed Beilke and Uphoff. She entered the season with 79 career points (57 goals, 22 assists) and is off to a dynamic start this fall with seven goals and two assists in four games.
"She's as loose and as confident as I've seen her," Warriors coach Steve Kimble said. "She's fluid. People always talk about how calm and smooth she is but she's also lightning fast. You take your eye off her and in a second she's gone. She has confidence and speed, she's smooth and she has skill. That's why she's Division I. We're just hoping to let her showcase her ability."
Kelly Rosenthal
Rosenthal will showcase her ability at Division I Illinois State University next fall. She plans to sign a National Letter of Intent in February.
"I talked to them last fall," she said. "I didn't do basketball or track (last year) so I played on the Wings team out of the Twin Cities. We did a bunch of tournaments and college coaches could watch.
"I went for a visit last April, and liked it a lot. Division I schools try to wrap up their recruiting early, and I ended up verbally committing last April.
"I liked a little bit of everything. I liked the soccer side. They're getting a freshmen class that will be big. It looked like they were getting a lot of good players so the future looks good."
Rosenthal scored three goals each in wins over Sartell and Little Falls this fall and had Brainerd's only goal in a season-opening loss to Wayzata.
"So far I don't think I've been marked," she said. "We lost a lot of people from last year, but our younger girls are doing really well. In practice we've been working on combinations. In our Little Falls game we had a bunch of people scoring. A lot of people are doing really well on the offensive side."
Kimble said Rosenthal's mastery with the ball and blazing speed make her a threat to score any time. Speed enabled her to run the third-fastest 100-yard dash in Brainerd girls' track history as a sophomore.
"A lot of times a soccer player is missing one of those two skills (ball mastery and speed)," Kimble said. "When they're lightning fast, look out, you have a unique player right there.
"At this point her confidence in her ability is at its highest level. She's not afraid to take anyone on or that anyone can take the ball away from her. She's as calm with the ball as any player I've seen."
Rosenthal has led the Warriors to consecutive trips to the Class 2A state tournament. That's where Brainerd hopes to return later this fall under Rosenthal's leadership.
"Her personality and leadership are coming out more than ever," Kimble said. "That's good timing because she's a captain. She's kind of directing other players.
"As you know she's soft spoken. Aside from her skills, her leadership might affect our program maybe more than any goal she scores. Our young players look up to her."
Other notable efforts:
Sarah Dens and Alex Erickson, swimming, each won two events against Rocori.
Siri Smith, swimming, won two events and two relays against Bemidji.
Taylor Headlee, tennis, went 3-0 at the Delano tournament.
MIKE BIALKA may be reached at mike.bialka@brainerddispatch.com or at 855-5861.