Matt 3, Mikaela 1. That's the score in the Battle of the Bergs. In the final regular season matchup between father and daughter, coach Matt Berg's Harford Tech team defeated Mikaela Berg's Rising Sun squad 1-0 last Thursday afternoon. As a freshman, Mikaela scored the game-winning goal in the first encounter, but the Cobras have won in the last three seasons.
This wasn't the final Battle of the Bergs. The Tigers and Tech could meet in the region playoffs and Mikaela's sister, Samantha, is a sophomore who is currently on the Tigers' JV team. In Thursday's varsity game, Tech's Emma Ryan scored a second-half goal to lift the Cobras to a 1-0 victory. "It's always fun winning a game but it's also hard for a dad not to root for their kid," Matt Berg said. "I like coaching against her. I like watching my kids play. So I get to hang out and watch my kids play while I get to coach my team. Really there's no better scenario for a coach or a dad." Said Mikaela: "It's not like they're a bad team to lose to. They're pretty good and I'd rather lose to them than to anybody else. It's always a good fight." She said it's the friendliest of rivalries. "For me, it's just a regular game," said Mikaela. "Same for him. We both look at it as a regular game and we both take it as a regular game. We're good sports." Although she tries to treat it as a "regular game", Mikaela still gets a little extra-excited to face her dad's team, many of whom are friends. "I get so hyped for these kinds of games because everyone knows each other and the competition is great," she said. "I know the level of play is going to be higher, too." Matt Berg can enjoy the victory because he knows Mikaela handles defeats with grace. "She's a competitor so she likes to win," said Matt Berg. "But more importantly she likes to play well and for her team to play well. And I think both teams played really well. She won't leave feeling badly at all. She worked hard. She did her job." There were three particularly interested observers at Thursday's game – Matt's wife and Mikaela's mother, Tammy, and Matt's parents and Mikaela's grandparents, Bob and Louise Berg. There are no divided loyalties among family members. "I am all for Rising Sun," said Tammy Berg, who is a math teacher at Rising Sun High. "All I kind of hope for is it's going to be a good game between them, whatever team wins. I'm just hoping it's going to be a good game so I'm not nervous. I'm not over-excited or anything. I'm just enjoying watching a good game." "If I'm at his games and it's not Rising Sun, I definitely root for Harford Tech," added Tammy, who hosted the Rising Sun players for a dinner the night before the game. "We've been to plenty of Harford Tech games and we're rooting for Harford Tech all the time. But this one, I do root for Rising Sun." Mikaela's grandmother Louise also doesn't hesitate when asked what team she's supporting. "Mikaela," Louise. "My son is the coach but he's not playing. If he was playing, it'd be different…It's fun. I just enjoy watching the girls play in general. I enjoy the athletics of it." Bob said he no longer gets nervous when the Tigers and Cobras play. "When they first started I was anxious, but they're fine with it," he said. "We're fine with it. It took a couple times but we're fine with it." It was business as usual at the Berg home on the morning of the game "If they talked about the game, I didn't hear anything," said Tammy. "I think in the morning it's just their normal routine. It's kind of like, 'See you later'." Said Matt: "I hugged them [Thursday] morning and I said, 'Look, good luck today but not that much'." On the ride home, Tammy expected Matt and Mikaela to discuss what transpired. "They'll both dissect it," she said. "My husband does that with any game he sees her play in, some of the things that she did or could've done better or team as a whole. But it's mostly her side of it. We don't hear about his team." Matt doesn't have to say too much to Mikaela after a game. "She's a critic of her own game and I just push my kids to work hard," Matt said. "And she works hard so I can't critique a lot. She's a better player than I ever was and she still has room to grow obviously. But she worked hard and hopefully we see them again in the playoffs." Comments are closed.
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