A wise old Jedi once said, ”Do, or do not. There is no try.” It’s unclear whether Bemidji girls’ soccer senior Brynn Klaers has ever seen Star Wars, or even knows who Yoda is, but she coined a similar phrase: “We don’t hope. We do.” And it has epitomized the Lumberjacks’ attitudes this preseason.
The Jacks finished 2025 with an 11-6-1 record and made it to the Section 8AAA semifinals before falling in a tight 1-0 battle with Buffalo. But instead of hoping they can get to the title game this year, the girls are putting in the work to realize their goal.
However, there are many new faces in key roles, including Klaers, who replaces longtime goalkeeper Clara Bieber.
“I learned a lot from Clara,” said Klaers. “The way she led the team, the way she uplifted everybody on the team. But I’m really excited for it to be my time, for me to step into the net and kind of take over that role. I’ve put a lot of work in in the offseason, but that confidence also comes inversely from the girls in front of me.”
She continued, “Those girls, I know have my back and that they’re going to do everything they can to stay in front of me, help me out. And so it’s my job to do the same and give them that same confidence that they have in me.”
Her teammates feel the same way.
“Having Brynn in the back, she’s always supporting us and she’s always like telling us, ‘OK, girls, we need to go here, girls, we need to go here,’” said senior captain Taylor Merschman. “And we’re just really supportive of her because we know that everyone’s going to make mistakes on the field. So if she makes a mistake, that’s on us [because we let the ball get back there]. We’re just making sure that we’re uplifting and building her up.”
Even after graduating 10 seniors, the Jacks have kept the familial aspect that led to success on the pitch last season and are utilizing it in 2026 to create their own persona—one that showed itself in yesterday’s preseason scrimmage.
“Halfway through the game, it started raining,” said senior captain Kylie Bellino. “I think that really helped our team because it just gave us this mindset of, ‘We’re pushing through it.’ I think that’s something our team is really good at and we showed that yesterday, and I’m excited to show that tomorrow [in the season opener].
“The identity of this year’s squad is that we have a lot of depth as we’re playing” she added. “Keepers, defense, mids, forwards all over the field, different skill abilities, which really helps us build up as a team. There’s not just one player that’s good, but we are as a whole. But also our community; we push each other, we help grow each grow, and I really appreciate that about our team.”
“Our team has so much energy and we’re literally just like a family,” Merschman explained. “So when we mess up, we’re always there encouraging each other. ‘We’re going to do better next time. C’mon, just forget about it. We got it.’ And then on the bench, it’s been really, really positive, good energy all the time. And in terms of the competition, our team is very competitive. So, just excited to see how that plays out the rest of the season.”
The Lumberjacks joined a new conference in the offseason, the Central Lakes Conference, and will open their season on Thursday, Aug. 27 with new conference foe Rocori. Kick-off is set for 3 p.m. at the Bemidji Middle School soccer field.