BERNE — Caleigh-Shea Murphy is the only senior for the Berne-Knox-Westerlo girls’ soccer team. Most of the leadership fell on her this season, but she says that her younger teammates have found a way to lead themselves as the Bulldogs turned its season around.

BKW lost its first five games of the season. Since, the Bulldogs have gone 6-2-2 for a 6-7-2 overall record, as it will host a Class C sectional game against Galway today.

“They’re all good girls who stay out of trouble and make my job real easy,” Murphy said of her teammates last Friday after a 1-to-0 win over Sharon Springs. “I couldn’t ask for a better team.”

Ninth-grader Marleana VonHaugg had the game-winning goal for BKW in the second half. Her shot from far range bounced over the head of the Sharon Springs goalkeeper, Breanna Russman, and rolled into the net. In the first half, VonHaugg ripped a shot off of the crossbar as her BKW teammates watched in awe.

The Bulldogs came into the season as one of the most inexperienced teams in the Western Athletic Conference. BKW has five sophomores, seven ninth-graders, and two eighth-graders on its roster.

“They’re understanding how to do things,” Head Coach Bill Dergosits said. “When I’m about to shout for them to do something, they’re already doing that on the field. They’re talking to each other, telling each other what they need to do.”

Murphy told The Enterprise that BKW has realized the importance of communication. “The verbal and non-verbal support has helped us beat the better teams,” she said. “We need that as we move forward.”

During those five losses to start the season, Dergosits said, the BKW players would continuously let the ball drop in front of them before trying to get control of it. That’s no longer the case, he said; the players worked on coaching themselves.

BKW controlled possession for most of last Friday’s game against Sharon Springs.

“I wanted them to get to the ball first, use their heads,” Dergosits said. “Every other word out of my mouth used to be, ‘Get that first touch [on the ball].’ Today, they were getting to the ball, and, if someone wasn’t, her teammates were telling her to.”

With such a young roster, Dergosits knew 2014 would come with growing pains. However, “we turned it around pretty quickly,” he added. “Everyone presumed that we would be rebuilding, but, once we got ourselves together, and we all started working like we knew we could, it was just a matter of getting there.”

So, “there” could be today’s Class C playoff game against Galway. The Bulldogs haven’t won a sectional playoff in many years. Dergosits tried to determine the exact date, but couldn’t find anything in writing.

“I think we have the right squad to get it done,” said Dergosits last Friday. “That’s our goal.”

During halftime against Sharon Springs, the BKW players faced the crowd, in a line, for several minutes. It was a time for Murphy to do all of the talking as the only senior on the team.

“I thanked everyone,” she said.