Rosenthal soars to top of Warrior points list

In its 10-year history the Brainerd Warrior girls' soccer program has had its share of top-flight goal scorers.

• Photos

Jennifer Beilke, a 2005 graduate, was the first, scoring 39 goals and collecting 56 total points.

She was succeeded by Danielle Uphoff, a 2006 graduate, who had 40 goals and 54 points.

Midway through her junior season, Kelly Rosenthal has already eclipsed both. Following Tuesday's 8-1 victory over Sauk Rapids, Rosenthal has 50 career goals and 17 career total points.

"The difference with Kelly is she scored a lot of goals early in her career and she's playing with a talented costarring cast," Warriors coach Steve Kimble said. "That's where she surpasses Jenni and Dani.

Kelly Rosenthal

"I tell the girls you want to leave a tradition. Kelly gets to play in the environment that our former athletes left. That allows us to dominate teams and put more goals in the net. Jenni and Dani were around when we were still getting beat up. I hope Kelly appreciates that and I think she does."

On Saturday, Rosenthal tied Beilke's single-game record for goals by scoring five against Bemidji in a 7-0 victory.

"We had a lot of balls in the air, a cross by Megan Zillmer, so I was able to get a couple header goals where the ball was put right in front of me," Rosenthal said. "In practice we've been working on going to our feet. We did that in that game and it worked well."

Rosenthal realizes she's a player the opposition marks as the one to stop. But the Warriors have other offensive weapons.

"I do get marked but we have a lot of other people who are able to score when that happens," Rosenthal said. "(Monday) Madison Smith and Britta Nelson each got one and 'Z' (Zillmer) always gets some."

Kelly Rosenthal

Sport: Soccer

Position: Forward

Year: Junior

Age: 16

Height: 5-foot-7

Weight: 125 pounds

Other sports: Basketball, track and field

Memorable sports achievement: Making it to nationals for Olympic Development Program in 2007

Grade-point average: 3.94

Favorite subject: Art

Favorite food: Ice cream

Favorite movie: "Dumb and Dumber"

Hobbies: Sports, being at the lake

Future plans: Attend college, play soccer

Athlete she admires: Pro soccer player Mia Hamm

Parents: Tom and Linda Rosenthal

Kimble said, as a forward, Rosenthal plays primarily a scoring position but she's still an unselfish player.

"Monday, she set the goal up that Maddie Smith scored," Kimble said. "The main thing is she's dangerous when she's not scoring.

"It's hard to play at that level game after game, but she's been pretty consistent. She's at least a threat. We do a lot of work around her. One pass leads to another and she's supposed to be, more or less, the one who taps it in, and she's doing that. She's doing other things for other people to score goals too."

Rosenthal hopes to help the Warriors, who have won nine-straight games, to a return trip to state later this fall.

"We're going to lose a lot of seniors next year," she said. "We're all looking at getting back to state. We had (games) against Wayzata and Eagan to get ready for that. They're the kind of teams we're probably going to see down there. We're definitely looking to get back to state."

Notable performances:

Emily Thesing, volleyball, had 21 kills, 19 digs and 6 ace serves at the International Falls tournament.

Tika Klauck, volleyball, had 18 kills, 2 blocks, 32 digs, 3 ace serves at the International Falls tournament.

Colby Ring, football, had three quarterback sacks against Rocori.

Nate Schaefbauer, football, passed for 116 yards against Rocori.

Hannah McAllister, cross country, won the girls' title at Pierz.

Tyler Rose, cross country, won the boys' title at Pierz.

Mike Bialka may be reached at mike.bialka@brainerddispatch.com or at 855-5861.