Bryan Hollaway still gets goosebumps thinking about it.

There were roughly 35 seconds remaining in Minnehaha Academy’s contest at Blake in September. The game was tied, 4-4. Senior attacker Berit Parten got the bear at midfield.

Minnehaha Academy senior forward Berit Parten navigates the defense during the Red Hawks’ 5-4 victor at Blake on Sept. 19, 2023. Parten, an Iowa commit and St. Paul native, is the 2023 East Metro Player of the Year. (Courtesy of Berit Parten)

“And, for some reason, the defense dropped off. And she starts sprinting up the field,” Hollaway said. “They’re thinking there’s not enough time for her to score. They just continue to drop, playing really conservatively.”

Then, from roughly 33 yards out, Parten fired off a blast.

“Just on a rope, puts it over the goalie’s head,” Hollaway said.

Redhawks win, 5-4.

“It was hit with such venom, it was shocking,” Hollaway said. “And everyone loses their mind.”

Not that they should’ve been surprised. You do not doubt Parten when the ball is on her foot. The senior tallied 37 goals and 22 assists this season to cap off a high school career flush with high levels of production and a state championship won as a sophomore. Parten led Minnehaha Academy to its third straight section final this fall.

The Iowa commit and St. Paulite is the 2023 Pioneer Press East Metro Girls Soccer Player of the Year. She will perhaps be remembered best for her unrivaled fearlessness on the attack.

“She is the most direct offensive player I’ve ever seen,” Hollaway said. “She is fearless in taking people on the dribble and has the confidence that she’s going to score or create a goal-scoring opportunity, really every time she gets the ball — which makes her exciting to watch because we all feel like there’s something special about to happen.”

That comes from a combination of skill and mentality. The skills, Parten said, have developed over the years. She picked up the sport when she was 7 years old and has played in various places and trained with various coaches. Her variety of skills are rarely matched.

Which leads to the mentality on the attack.

“I don’t know, I always just try to do it. Because you never know until you try,” Parten said. “And I always think the person I’m going up against, they don’t have any skills that I don’t have or anything I can’t counter them with.”

Her bag of tricks only continues to expand. In preseason training, Hollaway marveled at the creativity Parten was managing to score with. Sure, she can always beat you with a rocket, but this fall she added even more craft.

Parten has had to find different ways to deliver as she was often faced with double or even triple teams this season. But she adjusted via quick, one-two passes and a variety of runs designed to either get herself open or create space for teammates.

Her gaudy assist numbers often are only overshadowed by the goals tally.

Yet they mean the same to Parten, who merely wants to win. In fact, her favorite play this fall did come on an assist in which she thoroughly enjoyed the execution on the overall play by the team’s four captains and close friends in herself, Charlotte Wold, Greta Carlson and Gabrielle Wamre.

That group helped raise the bar of Minnehaha Academy girls soccer. Parten remembers in her early years of the program, the Redhawks would bow out of sections via big losses to Mahtomedi. Now, they consistently contend for titles. And they managed to achieve that success while still having a blast.

For instance, Parten helped lead the Redhawks’ ever-evolving pregame dance line.

“I definitely think that’s one of the best parts of soccer and high school soccer, when you can find ways to have fun in it,” Parten said. “One thing I’ll remember the most about high school soccer is all the memories and relationships that I had all throughout my four or five years of playing.

“You don’t really remember the losses or the wins as much as you will remember the people you did it with, and just how much you guys grew together and grew as a team and as a family. That’s probably one thing I’ll miss the most.”

Now she’s off to Iowa. Parten noted the high caliber of players she’ll see across the board at the next level. But Hollaway doesn’t expect the forward’s impact to dwindle.

“There’s a lot of really good players in the state and it’s been fun to see them. She is unique in her ability to take players on and create goal-scoring opportunities in a way that doesn’t really exist in American soccer,” Hollaway said. “The players that can play like that are household names — they’re the Christian Pulisic and Tobin Heath (-type) players of the world that get notoriety. It doesn’t matter how good your team is, if you don’t have a player in the final third that can beat somebody, you’re going to struggle to score. And we’ve been blessed to have her just creating goal-scoring opportunities over and over again.

“When she gets to Iowa, they’re going to put her in that wide position, and she’s going to do exactly what she’s done in high school. I see her continuing to be even more and more successful if she can stay healthy and keep her fitness up, the skill is already there to be successful at the highest levels.”

FINALISTS

Sawyer Bollinger Danielson, junior forward, St. Paul Academy: Gophers commit netted three goals — including the game winner — in the Spartans’ upset of Providence Academy in Class A state semis.

Brooke Nelson, senior forward, Stillwater: Double-digits in goals and assists to spark the Ponies’ offense. Class 3A Ms. Soccer finalist.

Savanna Stockness, senior defender, Mahtomedi: Pillar of Zephyrs’ stout defense. Class 2A Ms. Soccer finalist.

Addison Van Zee, senior forward, Centennial: Scored 14 goals and tallied six assists while guiding Cougars to section final. Class 3A Ms. Soccer finalist.

Ava Williams, senior goalkeeper, Woodbury: Strong athlete helped Royals log 10 shutouts en route to Suburban East Conference crown.

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